


Non, rien de rien

by RavenC



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Harry Potter, Beauxbatons, Beauxbatons Student Harry Potter, France (Country), M/M, Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter), Morally Grey Harry Potter, Sane Voldemort (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:55:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 29,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24114628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenC/pseuds/RavenC
Summary: Lily Potter fled to France with her son, thus making Neville Longbottom the Chosen One.Hadrien Lacroix has lived a happy 16 years, surrounded by his friends and his loving mother, preparing for the famous Yule Ministry soirée.He has no idea yet that the “meaningful connections” he was going to make could affect his entire existence.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Harry Potter/Voldemort
Comments: 121
Kudos: 868





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone,  
> I'm not a native english speaker and this is my first fanfiction so please bear with me.  
> The next chapters will be longer and shouldn't take long to come as I have the entire storyline already drafted.  
> Hope you like it !

Hadrien was the perfect poster boy of Beauxbâtons: brilliant, charismatic, and quite... untamed.  
He blamed his mother and her unruly personality that, while attracting many willing-to-be fathers, could be quite a handful. That’s not to say she didn’t raise him well, he was loved and sometimes smothered with love, possibly a way to compensate for the absence of a father figure, and her education was something she prided herself upon so no son of her would be lacking in this regard. With her tender yet firm hand, she pushed him to become a talented young man, surrounded by many he liked to call friends.

  
He was currently reading one of his many books on runes in the East Library, his vivid green eyes eagerly integrating the new knowledge, when Louise sat down next to him, harrumphing quite noisily. Forced to stop his reading after the rather rude interruption he looked at her, seeing her normally pleasant face twisted beyond recognition with fury:  
"What’s the matter today Louise?"  
"Oh! Because it’s a different matter everyday of course! Well, why don’t you try to figure it out Hadrien?", she replied angrily  
Sensing he hit a nerve, he wisely decided to shrug and told her in his nicest voice: “Do tell Louise, I am curious about what could get you so enraged”  
She debated with herself a minute, during which he could finally finish reading his sentence about blood runes and their use against vampires, before she finally exclaimed:  
"Well I learned by Paul, can you believe it Paul Louvière informed me, that you were going to that stupid Ministry soirée with Hélène and Grégoire! When were you going to tell me? I looked lost in front of at least three people, influential people if you mind, that are no longer going to consider me as a reference in gossip of the Academy. What do you have to say for your defence Monsieur Lacroix ?"  
"I am afraid I do not have much to say to try and defend myself, but I reckon I could interest you in some gossip to get the mill running and furthermore gain your forgiveness."

"Oh really? Let’s hear it then!" Louise said, somewhat enthusiastic.  
"Not before you promise you will forgive me if the info is good", Hadrien tutted.  
She stopped to think again before acquiescing.  
"Well, can you believe that Fleur Delacour is affianced to a Weasley? I heard his name was Bill, or maybe William, you can never know with British people."  
"Delacour ? Affianced to a brit! That’s the juiciest piece of gossip this year has brought me! I must tell Léa and Hugo, don’t wait for me for the carriage!"  
And like that, she brusquely disappeared, leaving Hadrien with a very irate Tutor coming his way.

  
Deciding to be a coward for once, he swiftly took his book, his messenger bag and his sky-blue cape before checking out. The East Library was made for the most studious students hence the silent rule he just broke but was, without an ounce of hesitation, his favourite part of the castle. The large window panels from the floor to ceiling left place for rows and rows of ancient shelves filled to the brim with rare books for the 4th years and up. Amazingly, while the shelves were ancient, they were made in a bright cherry wood which contrasted quite nicely with the few ebony desks dispersed within the room. In the centre, you could find the checkout desk and where the Tutors usually studied, to be more attainable to their fellow students and friends.

  
The Tutors were an interesting addition to the professors that Mme Maxime had created a few years prior: each subject had one Tutor assigned who was supposed to help the people struggling with it. Of course, only the best student in one subject would be chosen, and while that was logical it was somehow a bad idea because of the supposed superiority it gave them, that some liked to abuse of.

  
The Tutor trying to corner him was one of those abusers. Michael was a fellow 7th year that ranked way below him in everything except Astronomy and therefore tried to rub his position in Hadrien’s face every time he saw him, which was sadly often.  
If he knew that Hadrien was considered to be a Tutor in everything else and only refused because of his love for extracurricular learning, he would probably find a way to somehow make it about himself so the raven-haired boy ignored him for the most part.

  
Making his way through the corridors filled with classical paintings, except in the West Wing where a more modern art situation took place, Hadrien couldn’t help but hope that this Ministry gathering would prove to be a little more enlightening and stimulating than the last where the only amusement he had was in spiking up the champagne and seeing some of the poshest members of the Senate engage in a round of exaggerated dancing.

Though nothing quite beat Vanessa confessing to him only to cry a few minutes later when he managed to make her understand he was gay, very gay as in extremely interested in males. The look of pure disappointment was yet to be equalled.

  
The chambers of the 7th year were in the North Wing, the further away from the entrance and so more tolerable to study. It was also unfortunately the coldest in winter but, as Mme Bourgeois the Charms-professor said, “when you have more than six years of magical education you can manage a simple Warming Charm”. Nobody said the contrary as nobody wanted to attract her attention. Women are tough.

  
Hadrien entered his chamber which he shared with four other boys, two of which were some of his closest friends, and saw them waiting for him while playing cards. They nodded both at him before returning to their game. Valentin was winning by the looks of it and Grégoire would not be able to save himself this time. With luck alcohol was on bet and he would get to enjoy it too.

  
He hurried to pack, carefully encasing “Tenebris Runes” in his clothes before putting everything in his suitcase, then he quickly made a ponytail of his long hair and when he was finally set to go, he cleared his throat.  
"Yes, yes, incoming !"  
"I win ! Bow down to me !" exclaimed Valentin  
"By chance brother, by chance… " was the only response Grégoire deemed useful.

  
The three of them reunited with Hélène by crossing the 7th Room, and then they took off, bickering about the latest Defence assignment. Hadrien wouldn’t have it any other way.


	2. Début

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot for the kudos and hits!  
> And also a big thank you to DesertWaterfall who helped me figure out formatting!  
> Enjoy this second chapter  
> Ps : Comments make me happy ;)

While they were walking towards the carriage, Hadrien indulged in some observing. It would be one of the last times he exited Beauxbâtons before graduation and while he felt nostalgic and wanted to spend more time taking in the incredible beauty of the castle, he was also looking forward to the post-graduation life he had secured for himself.

Hadrien had spent a lot of time, too much according to his mother, establishing new connections that could be used to further his plans.

What plans could a 16 years old boy have? had laughed one of the ministry employees last year, rather high-ranking but not enough to warrant such disrespect.

Hadrien had simply answered that whatever his plans were, he wouldn’t be part of it.

Too straightforward and too aggressive, Hadrien hated himself a little for letting his temper get the best of him, but he couldn’t resign himself to be walked upon by some filthy bureaucrats who convinced themselves they got everything they wanted in life when they bought their manor and found a pureblood heiress to marry.

The purity of blood was something quite taboo in France, not like in England as Lily explained at length, few people talked about it but those who did were of the worst kind : the kind that would belittle Hadrien for something he had no control over.

Of course, he could use the name Potter, while his mother was firmly opposed to it she would accept his decision to do so, but he prided himself in gaining everything from his sweat and tears.

He did not have it as easy as Hélène or Grégoire who were both purebloods, but he could find a sense of kinship in Valentin, a muggleborn.

He still didn’t have it as hard as him, belittling was sometimes the tiniest of Valentin’s problems and he still struggled to find what he was going to do after graduation as politics was his calling but it would demand a lot of sacrifices.

Still, France was a lot better than Britain: it was illegal to discriminate according to blood or lineage, and a lot of new scientific studies were showcasing the advantages of the mix-up of magic blood with muggle blood. Inbreeding was not in anymore. Of course, it didn’t stop some ancient families from thinking they were superior in magic and in might. What a bunch of stupidities. Hadrien could probably best most of their heirs in duel or in exams and he was a half-blood.

It was the main reason why Hadrien was destining himself to politics, to prove them all that blood or old money was certainly a factor of success, a privilege, but you could do it no matter what your background was.

These talks used to make Hélène and Grégoire uncomfortable, which was understandable what with them being the heirs to the Cartier and Laubère families, but after a few years and a lot of persuading from Hadrien, they initially got used to it before finally adhering completely to the idea that the superiority of purebloods was a social construct perpetuated by those that profited from it.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Hadrien looked fondly upon the French gardens and turned to face the castle. It was very reminiscent of Versailles, but the building had something inherently ancient and magical about it. The many windows who let the sun enter at its will were the best part of it. Though the morning wasn’t sunny enough to really warm the castle: they were the 15th December and snow was still or already covering the grounds, adding to the magical feel of it all.

The construction of the Academy was an incredible prowess of magic and engineering from what Hadrien gathered in the multiple books he had read on the subject. The castle and its gardens were enclaved in the rock of the Pyrenees and to make it even more incredible, they had diverted a river for it to supply its water to the Flamel Fountain in the centre of the gardens. Hadrien was utterly amazed every time he spent a few seconds contemplating his second home. He would have the time to admire the Salon when he returned. As it is, he spent already too much appreciating the view.

Grégoire, Hélène and Valentin were waiting for him next to a carriage, already well used to his bouts of fascination for the surroundings. He gathered his trunk and climbed into the carriage after addressing a secretive smile to his friends.

The other students were milling around in their muggle clothes or robes depending on their destination, a few of them saw Hadrien and waved enthusiastically to him, which he returned happily.

Their carriage took off and they all grabbed the person closest to them in surprise before chuckling.

Hélène Cartier, a beautiful strawberry blonde and talented Healing student, initiated the conversation:

“So, what are you going to do during the Winter Holidays ? Except Yule and writing me letters that is!”

“Well, my father wants me to join him in Switzerland, something about the family business I gathered” said Grégoire, looking already bored to death. The young man wasn’t the keenest on politics.

“Oh really? Did he precise what kind of business?” asked Hadrien, interested

“Talk about business and suddenly Hadrien is awake !” laughed Hélène prettily, tucking a strand of hair behind her right ear.

“You can’t blame him, this could be a massive change in politics or in economy, we’re talking about the Laubère family here” defended Valentin fiercely.

“Nothing quite exciting I’m afraid, an alliance with a minor family and a meet-up with the representative of a British Lord.”

Hélène looked contemplative for a moment before questioning: “Which British Lord? Is it maybe Lord Gaunt?”

Hadrien perked up a little at the name, Lord Gaunt was the talk of the entirety of Britain and therefore of the entirety of French aristocracy. Hadrien first heard of him during an innocent conversation with an old condescending lady, it was the only interesting thing he learned this evening.

Lord Gaunt was a supposedly charming thirty something years old man, descendant of the Gaunt and therefore Salazar Slytherin himself. He had appeared “magically” two years ago and effectively distracted Britain from the disappearance of their beloved Boy-Who-Lived. Nobody knew of his true allegiances, but he was rumoured to practice all the traditional wizarding ceremonies and was for this considered at best grey, and by some Light extremists, dark.

It was another bunch of stupidities in Hadrien’s beliefs, the traditional wizarding rituals like Yule, Imbolc, Beltane and others were meant to celebrate magic or to send beloved deceased on the path of peace, nothing was dark about it, but from what information he gathered, his views were very progressist for Britain.

It was a relief that while Beauxbâtons was descripted as a fairly Light institution, it was still encouraged to practice such rituals when the time came.

It used to be a subject of discord between his mother and him: while Lily never really talked about what happened in Britain and why they had emigrated and changed their names to one of her long gone cousin’s, he had successfully deducted that she was a purely Light witch and her beliefs on Dark Magic were quite antiquated as she considered everything remotely dark to be a danger to the caster and everyone around him. It took long talks and explanations for her to accept his practice of the rituals and even more to finally do some with him.

So, while this young lord was the talk of the party for two years, not a lot was known about him. Some even said he was an imposter and pretended only to be the descendant of Slytherin.

Hadrien knew there was a quite simple way to prove or disprove this, but he guessed not a lot of people wanted to get in the bad graces of a new lord by throwing a snake at him. Or maybe people hadn’t done their homework and didn’t know that all descendants of Slytherin were supposed parselmouths.

Britain wasn’t the only one relieved to be distracted from Neville Longbottom’s disappearance, Hadrien’s friends were also delighted that the subject of conversation was evicted for another.

The bright young man was quite obsessed with this mystery, how could one disappear from the surface of the Earth that simply? Of course, the plotters and overall pessimistic people were quite adamant he had been killed by You-Know-Who, but there was no proof. The Dark Lord was supposed to have been defeated a long time ago and if the self-proclaimed best Dark Lord in History took that long to resurface, it was quite disappointing.

Albus Dumbledore was one of those resurrection believers and liked to shout it at the top of his old lungs, but it honestly didn’t make him very credible and only some of his more fervent friends didn’t avoid him when he came to French ministry gatherings. No one wanted to hear about a resurrected Dark Lord that was going to take over the magical world and leave it in ashes.

No, Hadrien liked the idea of the disappearance way better, could it be possible that the Savior finally had enough and decided to abandon everything and get a chance at a normal life? While plausible enough it was less plausible than a simple portkey malfunction that sent the boy spiralling into the nowhere to die.

Grégoire took his sweet time answering, looking at each of their impatient faces, before saying simply “Yes, but his representative is Lord Malfoy”.

“Are you kidding me?” exclaimed Valentin. “He’s so high up in the hierarchy that his representative is one of the, if not the, most influential Lord in Britain ?!”

Hadrien was pleasantly surprised, this Gaunt Lord proved himself to be worthy of interest, and that was quite a feat.

Lord Malfoy was once disgraced for serving He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named but soon gained his reputation back using Imperius allegations and a hefty sum of money. If he only did that, it would have been quite pathetic, but he acquired back a certain standing in society before climbing the ladder to reach the top. He was now rumoured to be the adviser of Cornelius Fudge, the British Minister of Magic, as well as the confident of Lord Gaunt, who could very well be running the game from behind the scene what with the power he held.

Lord Malfoy was an immensely powerful man indeed, and that was maybe why Lord Gaunt sent him to meet the Laubère Family in his name, who were arguably the most influential family in France. It was an efficient and tactical power play, one that showed respect without needing the presence of the main interest. Monsieur Laubère was surely going to appreciate it.

Hadrien would be delighted to meet Lord Malfoy, so he tried: “Grégoire, do you think I could spend some days with your father and you? If it is agreeable to both of you of course.”

Grégoire considered him for a long and uncomfortable moment, reminding him annoyingly who held the most power currently before humming noncommittally.

“I’ll ask him, there’s no problem for me but Father will have to agree. I’ll ask specifically if you can join us in the meeting with Lord Malfoy, but I reckon it shouldn’t be difficult, my father likes you too much for his own good”, Grégoire said seriously before winking at Hadrien.

The raven-haired young man wasn’t sure his friend agreed completely with him joining his family in the meeting but he would find out soon enough, with the acceptance or rejection of his demand. As Grégoire had said, Monsieur Laubère liked him despite his blood and would probably not refuse him such an interesting amusement. It also was an opportunity for him to discuss runes with a much more informed person than his fellow comrades.

They spent the rest of the flight talking about schoolwork or their plans, there was no point trying to read in the carriage, Hadrien had tried and regretted too many times to count.

After a few hours they arrived disillusioned in the gardens of Versailles and, before getting out, promised multiple letters and lots of thoughts.

Hadrien saw his mother immediately with her flamboyant hair, she was feigning smelling some flowers, and despite their separation lasting only three months and a half he still ran to her and jumped in her arms. Finally, he was going back to his first home.


	3. Suisse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the hits, bookmarks and kudos !   
> The fun begins next chapter :)

“How are you my dear?” whispered Lily, hugging him with all her strength. She waved absently at his friends before focusing on him again.

“Good and you?”

“I’m good, I’m good, shall we?” she asked while grabbing his hand and going towards the shed.

It was an interesting feat of magic and ingenuity: the shed in the back of the gardens, where nobody went, was in reality hiding a Floo network with a useful expansion charm so that the students didn’t loiter around the gardens and draw too much attention from the Muggles.

They entered the shed and impatiently waited in line, making small talk for the most of it. When he finally reached the Floo, he took a handful of powder and exclaimed: “Lacroix House” before being transported through space.

He sadly could still not manage the arrival and ended up dusty and on all fours in front of their old House Elf. He dusted himself off while Lily arrived and talked a little with Kippy, who answered as always with a lot of “Master Hadrien, yes Monsieur Lacroix, of course Little Master”.

Hadrien was fond of the House Elf, she was smarter than average and could anticipate anything they needed, it helped that she was originally from a pureblood family and therefore knew what to do when guests visited. They had given her, as a gift and not with a meaning of freedom, a smart little dress that she was enamoured with and took great care of. From what he gathered she wasn’t used to have any possession with her old family, and he liked to think she loved them a lot for that.

The Lacroix House was more of a cottage than a manor, it was cosy and not splendid but that was, above their welcoming manners, what made the guests more comfortable and therefore prone to divulgation. Hadrien had well perfected his techniques to hear about what he needed in these walls, and Lily had lost a lot of her brashness to let place to a beautiful talent in making people do her heeding, if he dared say so. Originally, his mother didn’t like him steering the conversation away from safe topics but these past few years she only shook her head fondly while whispering “So Slytherin of you Hadrien”.

Lily was a brilliant witch, one he admired above all others and not only because of their connection : she was a muggleborn but accessed one of the highest position in the Ministry of Innovations, second only to the Minister and his confident, she was well-versed in Charms and discovered quite a few properties of common spells that were now taught at Beauxbâtons such as the possible use of a Levicorpus to attempt elemental control. Of course, only the most talented students in Charms could try it and if his marks hadn’t been enough Hadrien would have wreaked havoc on the entire school to get his chance to perform elemental magic.

Conveniently, his marks were more than enough for him to engage in this fun little experiment and he mastered the air manipulation from Levicorpus a few months after beginning, with a lot of efforts and dedication. He was currently trying to master the Fiendfyre curse as it was another fun elemental magic, though truly more dangerous than a simple Levicorpus spell if not controlled. His mother wasn’t aware of this new passion of his and wouldn’t be if he had a say in it. He loved her but she was still so … Light.

“We’ll eat in the salle-à-manger sweetheart, Kippy if you could prepare it?” Lily’s voice brought him back to reality and he followed his mother down the hallway.

The meal was a quiet affair, they talked only about his achievements in his classes and about some of her new works. Finally, they breached the subject she wanted.

“So, are you looking forward to the Ministry Ball?”

“I admit I am, I will be able to make some meaningful connections I’m sure”

She chuckled a bit before answering: “Sweetheart, that’s not the kind of meaningful connections I want you to make and you know it. Why not meet a fine wizard that makes you happy?”

Hadrien huffed: “This fine wizard might make me happy for a while, but politics are a fleeting thing, I have to grasp the opportunity while I have it. I will have all the time in the world to meet someone when I am where I want in the Ministry.”

“You know, your father and I, we didn’t have a good start but we started dating in 7th year, maybe one of your fellow students might be a good choice? You speak often of Grégoire and Valentin, hmm? Maybe one of them could -”

Hadrien didn’t let her finish her sentence, while it was always nice to have more information about his father, he couldn’t let her hope for something that was never going to happen.

“Mom, Grégoire is practically betrothed to Hélène and Valentin isn’t gay. They’re my friends and they’re going to stay that way. Now if you don’t mind, could you tell me who’s coming to the ball?”

And the next twenty minutes were a mix of names Hadrien had already spoken to or wanted to speak to, but sadly his mother never mentioned Lord Gaunt. Seems like he would have to wait for a bit longer before meeting the infamous heir.

He informed his mother that he might spend a few days with Grégoire and his father in Switzerland if they deigned him worthy of this little game and retreated in his room.

His trunk was waiting for him and he impatiently retrieved “Tenebris Runes” from the mess. He quickly started to read, entranced until the supper.

Hadrien was quite talented at Runes and he wanted to later join his mother for a while in the Ministry of Innovations, as a nice springboard to further his agenda. He was already entertaining a correspondence with a Runes master in Russia who taught him little by little the tricks of the job. It only made him more motivated to pursue this as a career but a big part of him wanted to rush headfirst into politics where he could start to make a change, where he could start to prove them all wrong. Sadly, he wouldn’t last long if he didn’t have at least a mastery in a subject to back up his claims of excellence.

As it was, he was advanced enough to impress Vlad Pirokov and that was quite a feat in itself but not enough for his ambition. He needed to surpass him before the end of the schoolyear and his numerous years pouring in books were sure to help him.

Hadrien didn’t have a subject he was lacking in, sure, he hated astronomy and didn’t see the point in Herbology except for some potions and to make beautiful or dangerous gardens, but he prided himself in succeeding in everything he put his mind to, which was quite a lot of things. But people shouldn’t be mistaken, while he was gifted enough, most of it came from his hard work and irreproachable method. You could rarely, if ever, find him without a book.

The meeting with Lord Malfoy was the 19th of December and therefore Hadrien anxiously waited for the answer of Monsieur Laubère and Grégoire. He finally got it while he was in the garden, reading as usual.

_Dear Monsieur Lacroix,_

_Grégoire has informed me of your demand and it is with pleasure that we will count you as a participant of our vacation and meetings in Switzerland._

_You will find attached to this letter a portkey that will transport you to our Swiss residency the 18 th at 10h. _

_Cordially,_

_Monsieur Laubère_

The raven-haired boy was ecstatic, he was spending the best vacations of his life, meeting Lord Malfoy was sure going to be a turning point in his ambition for politics. It was a make it or break it moment and Hadrien needed to be ready.

He spent the next days brushing up on pureblood manners, current political climate, found a few articles about the Malfoy donations and an impressive amount of gossip about Lord Gaunt sadly without any photographies.

Lily was made aware of his upcoming departure and while she fussed a little it was manageable.

Finally at 10h sharp, he took the portkey and felt the usual pull at his navel before being transported to Switzerland.

There, Grégoire was waiting for him with a giant smile on his face, improper for a pureblood but habitual for Hadrien. They hugged fiercely before his friend dragged him through the house. It was a nice lodge, but with too much windows to be considered anything else than modern. The wood was dark but it wasn’t enough to make it seem inhospitable.

“Father is in his study, something about a contract and a stupid man trying to rip him off. Unsuccessfully as you might guess.” Declared Grégoire while navigating the corridors and showing him the different rooms.

“Nothing to worry about then, Monsieur Laubère isn’t one to get ripped off.”

“Indeed, indeed. These are your rooms”, he said as he opened the door to an immaculate bedroom, probably rarely used.

“This is perfect, thank you”

Grégoire hummed and then took his arm to lead him to a large room, filled with books from floor to ceiling. The library then, his haven.

“I know there isn’t as much as our home’s one or the Academy's but I think it might occupy you for a bit if Father requests of me to assist him in some boring contract redaction.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s perfect, I’m sure I will find many books of interest and if somehow nothing is I have brought myself a few books.”

Grégoire chuckled, muttering something under his breath then took his arm again to drag him to the garden. Used by now to this kind of treatment, Hadrien let himself be dragged and contemplated his surroundings. It was a nice lodge, a really nice lodge.

The two young men spent the rest of the morning exchanging their short holiday stories and news of their respective families. Grégoire had a younger sister named Olivia, that used to think she was going to marry Hadrien when she was of age, but she learned quickly that while her father liked him, it wasn’t enough to marry his daughter to a no-name half-blood wizard, no matter how talented he was.

Hadrien used to be bitter about it but found himself not caring after a while, they will all learn. He didn’t even want to marry Olivia no matter her name and influence. 

A House Elf brought them cold sandwiches as a meal, seeing that Monsieur Laubère hadn’t finished in his study, and they both used the afternoon to fantasize about their plans for the future which included little politics in his friend’s case.

Before dinner, Grégoire finally told him : “The meeting with Lord Malfoy will be in a neutral place, so a restaurant at 12h, dress up to the nines and brush up a bit on your traditional ways of eating, can’t hurt even though you master it.”

“I will, don’t worry your pretty little head about it”, Hadrien said fondly. His friend was quite a mother-hen when given the chance, and surely a meeting with one of the most influential persons in Europe was enough to put himself into a frenzy.

Tomorrow was going to be a good day, Hadrien could feel it.


	4. Initiation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the love you're giving this story  
> I'm a little stressed out about this chapter, but I hope you like it!

Hadrien chose to wear his green robes, they highlighted his eyes and he was told by Hélène and Louise that it made him seem more imposing. All for the better then, he wouldn’t want to seem like a meek student in front of Lord Malfoy, what with him being powerful and the representative of Lord Gaunt.

He joined the Laubère father and son, gaining an approbative nod of the patriarch. They flooed in a posh restaurant named “La cuillère d’argent”. Luckily, Hadrien managed his arrival this time and didn’t end up on the floor. The interior was admirable, all whites and greys, with waiters dressed exquisitely. Hadrien felt at home in this gentle extravagance and followed the duo when they walked to the maître d’hôtel.

“Messieurs, may I enquire whether you have a reservation?”, the man asked.

“We have, under the name of Laubère”

The maître’s eyes widened slightly before he masked it and told them to follow him. He sat them at the centre table, under everyone’s discreet but watchful eyes. The centre table was probably reserved for the usual clients or the notorious, so important people either way.

They waited only a few minutes before Lord Malfoy flooed in, recognizable by his pale blond hair. Hadrien was immediately enraptured, he walked with such grace and power, sadly a sneer was barely hidden under a polite smile and the young man found himself disappointed. So it was another pureblood who thought himself above everyone else; with the fact that he was British the dinner could become a very uncomfortable affair for Hadrien quickly. Only one question about his lineage and he would be discarded for the entire meal.

They all rose from their seats and extended their hands one after the other. Once that was done, and so contrary to the purebloods’ traditions, Monsieur Laubère introduced Hadrian: “May I introduce you to one of my son’s friends? This is Hadrien Lacroix, a brilliant and promising young man.”

He didn’t explain his presence, which could be considered a slight towards Lord Malfoy, but the man didn’t seem to be utterly concerned. He stared up and down at Hadrien then, probably deeming him acceptable, said: “A pleasure, Monsieur Lacroix”.

“The pleasure is mine, Lord Malfoy”, answered the young man, though his polite smile was quite crisp.

Evidently, Monsieur Laubère didn’t appreciate not meeting Lord Gaunt and having to discuss important matters with his representative, or simply didn’t like the deal the British Lord wanted them to have. It was now apparent in his disregard of pureblood customs, and the few seconds he took before offering them to sit down. A very tense meal then.

Hadrien took place and, after they all ordered, let himself be submerged in the subtle disagreements between the two men.

“Lord Gaunt would like to meet you in Great Britain, for a soirée he is to organise with French and British representatives of their respective nation.”, Lord Malfoy said in a divine accent after a while. Not having been disregarded, Hadrien found himself admiring the man again.

“Oh indeed? I’m afraid I don’t have much time to spare, it was already such a hassle to meet you today”, answered Monsieur Laubère, the small jab wasn’t ignored by Lord Malfoy if his slightly clenched jaw was an indicator.

“Like I said, Lord Gaunt expressed an ardent desire to meet you but as he, unfortunately, couldn’t today, he would like to extend an invitation so you can finally discuss face-to-face.”

The French patriarch hummed, as his son tended to do, and Hadrien watched his gaze sharpen. ‘Oh no, that’s not good’, he thought.

“I wonder… I truly wonder Lord Malfoy… Are you merely a pawn or are you capable of self-reflection?”

Grégoire choked on his filet mignon and Hadrien absentmindedly offered him water before focusing again on the grand opera taking place in front of his eyes. Unstoppable force meets immovable object and they weren’t even at the dessert.

Lord Malfoy breathed deeply then exhaled through his nose before answering:

“I can assure you I am capable of self-reflection, what made you ask such an…unexpected question if I may?”

He definitely wanted to say rude, that was a given. Hadrien admired the mien of the man, he gathered himself really quickly and efficiently, the young man still had a lot to learn from men like him. 

Monsieur Laubère chuckled silently before launching himself in a speech he had obviously practised, and Hadrien understood better than ever why the man had wanted him to come:

“You see Lord Malfoy, the difference between British and French people is that we don’t beat around the bush with flourishing words, so let me be honest : I don’t like you and I don’t like your Lord Gaunt. I am merely considering an alliance for power and nothing else, so either your little Lord is straightforward and explains me what I can gain and what I’m going to give or we aren’t doing this. I’ve had enough of your word games, I am powerful enough to not need him but I’m not sure the contrary can be said.”

The French man took a sip of red wine and relaxed in his seat, while Lord Malfoy had turned as white as a ghost before blushing. ‘The colour is a dashing look on him’, Hadrien couldn’t help but notice before berating himself, he had just witnessed history being made. Either Lord Gaunt was powerless enough that he couldn’t guaranty his dignity in the alliance or Monsieur Laubère was wrong and was going to get crushed.

Grégoire looked worried and Hadrien grasped his knee under the table to offer a little comfort.

The British Lord finally gathered his wits and said, still calmly: “I can assure you that Lord Gaunt is powerful enough but I’ll make sure he will listen and consider your demand before joining you again.”

The dessert ultimately arrived after a few attempts at small talk that even Hadrien couldn’t keep going, despite his reputation of always having something to say.

Before leaving, Lord Malfoy stared at each of them contemplatively before asking : “I know that you are very interested in runes Monsieur Laubère, would you perhaps know of a combination that could protect an object from every spell or almost ?”

The French man seemed to think for a short while before turning to Hadrien and winking exaggeratedly: “Well dear Lord Malfoy, it is so simple that I am going to let a student answer”.

When all three of them were focused on him, Hadrien started thinking while talking with his most assured voice : “Well, let’s say this object has no interfering magic, it would be quite easy I believe to put a combination of an inverted Fehu and right Hagalaz. It should cover all spells and furthermore all destruction, no matter the intent of the person behind it.”

Lord Malfoy raised his eyebrows before countering: “But wouldn’t it unbalance Hagalaz? I thought you couldn’t combine it with an inverted rune or it would contrary it”.

Hadrien smirked, this man knew the basics but lacked the imagination to evolve above standards uses of the runic alphabet.

“Indeed, indeed, which is why you would have to make that object out of elder wood as it is the only non-magical wood, or if you can’t, then make a protection to that object out of the elder wood carved with the runes.”

The British man nodded, thanked him and left after saying his goodbyes and throwing a last intrigued look in Hadrien’s direction.

Monsieur Laubère looked delighted and grabbed both their arms before apparating them to the lodge. He turned to Hadrien and exclaimed: “So you wanted to meet him and you’ve met him, what do you think?”

Grégoire looked at him with puzzling intensity as the young man answered: “It was surely enlightening, I’m afraid though that we didn’t have any indication of his beliefs during the entirety of the meal.”

Both the Laubère men nodded before the patriarch launched himself in another spiel about British people and why their way of diluting or hiding the truth was annoying. Hadrien found this way rather interesting and amusing at times but decided against telling them this detail, he was sure it wouldn’t be well received.

Meanwhile, Lucius Malfoy arrived in Riddle Manor via the Floo network and after a few disconcerting seconds, his gaze fixed itself upon a small House Elf:

“Loky be’s telling Master Gaunt that you arrived, sir”

Waiting impatiently, Lucius rummaged through his thoughts, trying to organize them before reporting to his Lord. He was intrigued, there was no other word, by Hadrien Lacroix and as if his brilliance with runes wasn’t enough, he couldn’t help but think he had already seen him. It was another mystery surrounding the young man that he wanted to resolve. But the most important one was: how could a supposed muggleborn or half-blood attract the attention and affection of the most influential pureblood man in France?

There must be more than his sheer intelligence, something that he was not seeing. The young man was articulate, knowledgeable in the matters of the families and different enterprises be it in Britain or in France, maybe it was that hungry gleam he seemed to get when talking about runes or maybe simply his friendship with the man’s son. Monsieur Laubère seemed peculiar like that.

The House Elf came back with a ‘pop’ and told him that Lord Gaunt was waiting for him in his sitting room.

Lucius straightened his clothes and his hair before following the little creature through the hallway and to the aforementioned room. While Lucius had already been here before, he still noticed the ancient immobile portraits that unnerved him quite a bit.

His Lord was sitting in an imposing chair, the velvet backrest the same maroon colour as his eyes, his long legs expanded towards the fireplace.

“Lucius, sit.”

He obliged, sitting in the less comfortable chair and waited for an order which didn’t take long to arrive:

“Well, tell me. What did he say?”, his smooth voice didn’t let one pinch of impatience show through

“He was… quite annoyed my Lord.”

Thomas Gaunt turned to face him and focused solely on him, which was much more unnerving than the paintings.

“Continue.”

“Yes, my Lord. He told me that he wanted a clear proposition before he accepted any meeting and therefore refused to come to the ball you’re going to throw.”

“He dares”, was hissed and Lucius could feel a bead of sweat slowly descending his temple from a mixture of fear and heat.

The room turned silent for a few minutes during which the Dark Lord observed the glowing embers before he explained:

“I’ll owl him a straight proposition and if he refuses, we’ll find a way to make him accept. A pretentious French man isn’t going to stop me from gaining influence.”

“Of course, my Lord”, Lucius said while inclining his head.

“Tell me everything we know about him, his allegiances, his weaknesses, anything we might have missed that can explain his refusal.”

“François Laubère is a french man of 53 years, very prominent in the wine industry. He is from old money, the Laubère family being a member of the French Pureblood Society since 1650 when they came back to France after having fled the country due to the witch hunts. He is married to the second daughter of Monsieur Lavoie, another member of the French Pureblood Society, and together they have two children: Grégoire and Olivia.

Grégoire is the eldest and the heir at 17 years old, he is supposed to take back the enterprise from his father when he comes of age but it is rumoured he finds little interest in politics and management which is something we could gain from. He is supposedly betrothed to the Cartier heiress, though these are just rumours with no tangible evidence. He is a diligent student and ranks 6th in his year in Beauxbâtons.

Olivia is 9 years old, there is nothing interesting to say about the girl. Her betrothal contract has yet to be written. 

Monsieur Laubère has clearly said that he personally does not like us and seems to despise British people. His marriage is solid, no adultery, no public fights, they are very proper.

Nothing to report on his management, no suspicious money entering or leaving the company’s accounts. He is irreproachable on this side.

On his beliefs, I thought he was convinced of pureblood superiority but he brought today one of his son’s friend who was a muggleborn or half-blood from the looks of it so there’s nothing sure, I’ll check with our informant immediately after.”

Lord Gaunt caressed absentmindedly his jaw while humming. He brusquely sat up straight and asked: “Could this muggleborn friend be a hidden lover?”

“From what I gathered, he is spending a few days with his son and him in their Swiss residency so it is plausible but would be surprising, Monsieur Laubère has never shown any interest in same sex individuals and my informant certified there has been no affairs. I also didn't see anything incriminating during the meal." 

The Dark Lord hummed again and dismissed him: “That will be all Lucius.”

When he arrived at the threshold of the door, Lord Malfoy suddenly stopped and cleared his throat.

“My Lord…”

He could feel the irritation spike in the man when his indirect order was not obeyed immediately. The dark magic that surrounded him without notice suddenly became oppressing and tried to force him to leave the room, but Lucius stood his ground. Without answering, Lord Gaunt slowly turned towards him and raised an eyebrow.

“It’s just… This muggleborn boy, he was… He found how to protect your possession.”

“Did he now? And how, pray tell?”

The Dark Lord did not seem intrigued, he barely focused his gaze on Lucius before concentrating on twirling the embers with wandless magic.

“He suggested the use of elder wood and carving an inverted Fehu and right Hagalaz.”

Now, the Lord was interested and focused properly on him after a short silence.

“What was his name?”, he inquired, discreet hunger burning in his eyes

“Hadrien Lacroix, my Lord. From the discussion, I could deduce that he will be going to the French ministry ball in a few days.”

“Very well… We shall see if his brain is less filthy than his blood. Find out everything you can about him”

Lucius left quickly, leaving him to admire the ashes and wonder.


	5. Préparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading !  
> The updates might get more sporadic because I'm currently working at the ER and there's a lot to do, please bear with me :)

The next two days were spent rather boringly in Switzerland; Hadrien read a lot and took advantage of the library to peruse a few rare books about runes that he couldn’t find at the Academy. He was fascinated by the study of blood runes and temporary runes, wondering if he could combine the two and try to trace the runes on his skin if he ever got hurt during a duel or a battle. He promised himself to try and further his approach of both subjects before trying anything rash, he would have to wait to return to Beauxbâtons to experiment.

Finally the time to go had come, he thanked profusely Monsieur Laubère for this opportunity and their rare jest about runes, and hugged Grégoire before taking the portkey back to France.

He didn’t really have the time to discuss the weird expression his friend sometimes had on his face when he came upon one of his discussions with his father, but there would be plenty of minutes or hours to talk it out at the Academy. Hadrien only hoped that his friend wasn’t jealous of the common interests he had with his father, but realistically it was probably the case. While it could drive a wedge between them, the young man would make sure it didn’t have any lasting effect on their relationship or in the dynamics of their tiny group.

“Love, you’re finally here!” Lily exclaimed, looking almost happier than he had ever seen her.

He kissed her cheek and let himself be guided to the lounge where she proceeded to interrogate him on everything.

“So, let me sum everything up, there was a polite fight and then you helped Lord Malfoy with a rune problem he had?”

Hadrien chuckled, that was grossly resumed but that would do.

“Yes, well, the rune problem was more for Lord Gaunt than Lord Malfoy I’m sure but I think I impressed him nonetheless.”

“I don’t particularly like Lord Malfoy but I’m glad you could show off a little bit! That’s one person or maybe two persons less to impress”, Lily said enthusiastically while making tea.

“Actually, I appreciate Lord Malfoy, he is very polite and proper you know, seems to always know what he’s doing. I’m more afraid for Monsieur Laubère, if Lord Gaunt is as powerful as said and offended by his rude reactions, he could very well have sabotaged himself on a political plan”, Hadrien explained.

His mother served the tea, piping hot, and looked at him at length before nodding and taking a sip. She spit it back almost immediately, holding out her burnt tongue: “Oh shit!”

Hadrien laughed hard and she soon joined him. Oh how he loved her.

Their relation wasn’t very conventional, she had always been as much of a teacher as a mother, she taught him everything she knew, from the occasional pureblood custom to the entirety of the Charms manual. But she also loved him fiercely and made sure he knew he was always wanted. Life’s lessons weren’t enough according to her so she taught him everything she had learned by action or by omission, with her relationships and with her sometimes unwarranted hatred.

He still didn’t know a lot about her paradoxically, she rarely talked about what happened in Britain or the death of his father. He sometimes resented her for it but he knew that she would tell him everything when the timing was right. It was a lot to ignore: why they left Britain, why they changed names, why she refused to go to ministry functions, why he had to be the best in everything just in case. But he made do.

The ministry soirée was the 26th therefore Hadrien had plenty of time to try on the different pieces he had ordered by owl and decide on the right one. He was quite proud of himself if he might say so, and thought he looked dashing which was much more self-love than he was used to.

The morning of Christmas came soon enough and Hadrien woke up to a little pile of presents from his friends, he already took the care to send his own yesterday evening. Lily knocked on his door and he told her to enter.

“Merry Christmas mum”, he said happily before hugging her.

“Merry Christmas love”, she replied.

She smelled of cinnamon and probably had already put her batch of biscuits in the oven they rarely used.

He went to his desk and retrieved her present before offering it to her, in exchange she handed him what was obviously also a book.

“We thought of the same thing!”

“Well, a book is never a miss so...”, Hadrien answered while softly smiling.

They opened it at the same time and read the title before bursting into chuckles.

“We really thought of the same thing!” Hadrien exclaimed, holding his exemplary of ‘Osmosis of Runes and Charms’.

Lily hugged him again, softly humming a Christmas carol.

Soon he would have to open his other presents and plan his preparation for the ball but for now he could enjoy his mother’s warm embrace.

When he opened his presents, he found a tablet to practice runes from Hélène, a book intitled ‘Most Potente Runes’ from Grégoire that he knew was hard to come upon and one named ‘British Magical Genealogy’ from Valentin, which he had specifically talked about in one of his numerous speeches about Lord Gaunt and his supposed heirship.

He was delighted. He then opened an annual subscription to the gossip rag of Beauxbâtons, traditional present from Louise each year. She knew he would never subscribe to something as petty as this even if he prided himself on being always aware of the gossip, but as the head redactor since 4th year she probably was too proud of herself to miss on such an opportunity to irritate him.

A couple of other presents came from acquaintances, often something related to Runes or Charms. His personal library was soon going to be a reference in the field.

From then on, time passed quickly, filled with books and stimulating discussions and it was the 26th at 17h that Hadrien realised that he would have to get ready sooner than later for the ministry soirée.

As usual, Lily wasn’t going but she wanted to see him before he left.

He changed himself quickly in his green robe with silver lapels and his dragonhide boots. He let his hair flow freely to below his shoulders and looked at himself. His green eyes were vivid, unobstructed, and seemed to be almost the same colour as an Avada Kedavra. He was always told that they were his best advantage, even before his intellect, which was quite disappointing to be honest.

Eventually ready, he went to the lounge where his mother was reading. Upon seeing him she smiled brightly and kissed his cheek.

“You’re so beautiful Hadrien! Do try to find yourself someone to spend the evening with other than your friends, hmm?”

“Mum, we’ve already talked about it, I probably won’t, I don’t want to”, he exasperatedly said.

“Yes, yes, of course, well don’t mind your old mother and go have fun and make meaningful connections as you say”, she dramatically exclaimed.

He smiled fondly before tightening his hand around hers, and finally took his leave to apparate to the entrance of the Ministry.

The entrance of the French Ministry of Magic was situated next to the Louvre, in the archway leading there in a similar fashion to the entrance to Platform 9 ¾ from what Hadrien understood.

He entered and immediately told his name to the doorman standing there, who let him pass.

The French Ministry of Magic was impressive, you were immediately surrounded by statues and works of art with an exorbitant price. Let it be said that French people were very prideful. The colour theme was royal blue and white, as it had been since before the Revolution.

The Revolution was a massive piece of wizarding history : the nobles were often purebloods and muggleborns were poor because of the rate of exchange between muggle and wizarding money, they were often used as servants to the richest family to try and pay for their education beyond a basic level of cleaning and housekeeping magic. Half-bloods could either be rich and contribute to the inequality system or still have the debt of their parent’s half paid education and therefore becoming servants.

When the muggle revolution started, the wizarding community thought itself exempt of such barbarism, but it was without considering the suffering of the lower cast. A lot of heads had rolled during these days and at the end of it, the new Magical President decided to have all education debts nullified, that all education should be free and finally made it illegal to discriminate based on blood or lineage.

They didn’t decide to change the colour theme of the Ministry which was a shame, Hadrien liked green better.

He made his way down the atrium and took the stairs to reach the first level where the ball was held. He gave his name again to another doorman and could finally enter the ballroom.

The outrageous room was filled to the brim with people and crystal chandeliers, Hadrien counted six of the offending ornaments before his name was called.

He found himself face to face with Hélène, who was wearing a delightful and elegant baby pink dress.

“How are you dearest?”, she asked with a smile

“I am fine thanks, and you?”

“Just fine. Follow me, we must save Grégoire from a vile entrepreneur who seems to think he has a way inside the Laubère’s fortune”.

He laughed quietly and let himself be guided to the furthest end of the room, making him wonder how she had noticed him from this distance.

Grégoire was indeed in the clutches of a very enterprising twenty-something man who seemed to never stop talking. His expression was one of pure relief when he saw them arrive and he quickly excused himself before joining them.

“Thank Merlin for your presence, I wouldn’t have lasted a minute more! He wanted me to finance a stupid line of clothing, do I look like the fucking bank?”

Hadrien snorted: “The poor man was probably trying to make you understand how dreadful your sense of fashion is”

“Oh really Lacroix? You’re the one to talk, are you trying to seduce a Slytherin or what with you bicolored robe?” retorted Grégoire.

Before the issue could be addressed, Hélène exclaimed: “Boys, boys, let’s focus on the party, there are plenty of important people there who want to talk to us, so let’s do some social connecting!”

“I’m gonna do some social connecting with alcohol first thing then I’ll take care of people”, Hadrien gracefully replied before disappearing in the crowd.

Grégoire looked quite upset to be left out of a wine situation but focused again on Hélène when she smiled gently at him: “Shall we?”

“We shall.”

Navigating the crowd was definitely harder than it looked and Hadrien had to point to the buffet at a few persons to explain why he wasn’t staying to chat. Most of them had already had their uses so there was no point in delaying his reach of alcohol.

Finally grasping a glass of wine, he suddenly tensed when a hand was placed on his shoulder. He quickly turned to come face to face with the most handsome man he had ever seen. His traits were aristocratic, with a full mouth that begged to be kissed, a strong jaw and captivating maroon eyes. But nothing quite attracted him like his perfectly coiffed dark hair that needed to be mussed and nothing quite terrified him like the dark and powerful aura surrounding him, it was a wonder the Light persons in the room hadn’t fainted already, but they probably felt very uncomfortable.

Hadrien was so entranced that he barely heard what the tall stranger was saying to him in a deep velvety voice:

“Someone told me you were the son of Lily Lacroix, the Charms master, is that right?”


	6. Découverte

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm quite nervous about this chapter so I hope you enjoy it!  
> As always, I'm grateful for the bookmarks, kudos and lovely comments

“And who’s asking?”, Hadrien retorted. As enamoured as he was with the man, he could remember the logical questions. His mother was quite famous in her field, and he also was known in the French society but that a stranger knew of him was a little worrying.

That seemed to amuse the stranger and he let a smirk escape before schooling his expression into one of polite interest.

“Where’s the fun in knowing? Shall I let you discover it throughout the night?”

The tone was condescending and it made Hadrien’s hackles rise up but the young man never let anything show and answered politely:

“Let’s respect your heart’s desire then sir”

The intruder chuckled elegantly, before focusing his intense eyes solely on him.

“You may call me Lord if that is to your taste”

Alright, a self-important British Lord with a perfect accent, Hadrien knew how to work with them easily, they always got a thrill from being addressed with their title and he could do it ironically without submitting to him so all for the better.

“Of course my Lord”, he answered with a mock bow. “Were you perhaps hoping to meet Lily Lacroix?” 

The Lord’s eyes flashed with something akin to anger before settling easily.

“Indeed I was, she is quite the name in Charms isn’t she?”

“She is, she has revolutionized a great deal of the way we practise Charms in the everyday life, there’s no other way to say it”, Hadrien said excitedly, always happy to praise his mother.

“And what would be your favourite discovery of hers?”, the Lord enquired with a polite smile.

The young man took a few moments to think despite already knowing his answer, trying to collect every information he could based on the man’s face, but sadly his mask was impenetrable.

“I have to say it is the use of Levicorpus for the practise of elemental magic. Such an interesting branch of magic that has almost been forgotten. Though I am quite partial to the use of an inverted Accio to get to a close point. What is yours?”

The man took a sip of wine and twirled his glass between his elegant fingers before answering:

“I also like the use of elemental magic and think it should be integrated to the studies of young witches and wizards, but my heart is devoted to the Genealogy Charm I’m afraid.”

It was an opening to talk about blood purity and lineage, and Hadrien wasn’t going to take it. If he did, the man would immediately know his views on the matter and it often wasn’t a good thing to talk about in the beginning of a conversation ; and if he didn’t it could be seen as an attempt at politeness.

“Elemental magic is studied in Beauxbâtons, has been for a few years actually.”

The Lord’s eyes flashed again when he noticed his avoidance of the subject but he took the change graciously and they talked about elemental magic for a while, never straying from the polite tone and thrilling subjects. Hadrien would have been delighted to have the opinion of someone who should at least know, if not master, the Fiendfyre curse but it would reveal he knew too much about the man’s aura, and he wasn’t sure if the showing off was intentional. Luckily, the Lord seemed keen to talk about it and breached the subject:

“We cannot talk about elemental manipulation and ignore the Fiendfyre curse. Are you familiar with it?”

Hadrien observed their surroundings and noticing that, while a few too many people were staring at them, his friends weren’t close enough to hear, he almost whispered:

“I am currently trying to master it” 

“Oh really? That is ambitious for somebody as young as you. Do you find maybe unexpected resistance from the fire?”

“Exactly! I can’t seem to control it no matter how much I focus on my magic and I’ve read an astronomic number of books with no results!”, exclaimed Hadrien

The Lord smiled indulgently before placing a powerful hand on the small of his back and guiding him to the outdoors. Hadrien let himself be guided, understanding that this was too controversial of a subject to keep talking about surrounded by curious ears, but still kept control by opening himself the door. There, not a damsel in distress but a capable young man whether the Lord liked it or not.

When they both were outside, under a fine mist, the young man turned to see an amused smile on the man’s lips, he ignored it and waited for him to explain this particular tricky curse.

After a few minutes soaking up the fresh air during which Hadrien admired the grand staircase which led into the gardens and marvelled at the ingenuity of a giant garden in the middle of Paris, invisible to the muggle eye, the man finally explained :

“You focus too much on the feel of your magic, once the curse is launched it is all about intent, magic becomes useless. You can try to reign in your power but it will have no effect, except maybe putting you in danger if you use it in the middle of a duel. That is why the Fiendfyre curse is considered dark, because it is about the intent of the caster and not his power. Terrifying if put in the wrong and inexperienced hands.”

Hadrien thought about it a little, before adding:

“That’s why it only stopped when I lost control of my magic and was desperate for it to still.”

“Indeed.”

There was again a moment of silence, letting Hadrien wonder why such a powerful and dark man was wasting his time at a very important gathering to explain magical theory to him.

“Would you want me to teach it to you?”

“I beg your pardon?”

That was suspicious, more than. What could he gain from it?

“You heard me right, would you want me to teach it to you?”, he repeated.

“Now?”

“Why not? Let’s go into the gardens.”

Now Hadrien could see a reason why, he wanted to isolate him and maybe strike at the right moment. Maybe he was a blood supremacist who got off on terrifying people of “dirty” blood, or maybe he would leave him for dead after attacking him. The possibilities were now endless.

Despite his brain telling him to go back inside, Hadrien decided to follow the man. He had more fun discussing magic than he had in years and it sure helped that the man was so attractive and enticing.

When they were maybe 500 meters away after having walked in silence, the Lord turned slowly in the small meadow and demanded:

“Show me.”

The young man tightened his jaw but obeyed and intoned clearly: “Fiendfyre!”

As usual, a gathering of fire animals exploded from his wand and prowled free. He successfully avoided the flowers and hedges surrounding them but struggled to make it circle them as he wanted.

The Lord came up behind him and suddenly took hold of his wand hand, plastering himself to his back, and slowly whispered in his ear: “Remember, intent is everything.”

Hadrien almost dropped his wand in surprise, before concentrating on the most pressing problem, in particular the fire animals now roaming closer to the gardens.

‘Stop it, come back to me, come back to me’ he furiously thought, letting his magic uncontrolled and expanding freely for the first time this evening. He felt the Lord shivering violently behind him but decided not to comment on it and focused again on the Fiendfyre. After a few excruciating minutes, he gained control and made the animals bow down before flicking his wand and making them disappear.

He turned quickly and came face-to-face with the Lord, who was way too close for comfort. With their faces inches apart, Hadrien whispered: “I succeeded.”

The pupils of the man took over almost his entire irises and the green-eyed young man took a hasty step back before clearing his throat and putting away his wand.

“Hmm, thank you for your help.”

The Lord shook his head almost imperceptibly before nodding curtly and smirking.

At this precise moment, rain came pouring down on them and Hadrien enjoyed for a few seconds the feel of the raindrops splattering on his skin before wandlessly conjuring a weather shield. He could feel the stare of the mysterious Lord again but opted to ignore it and slowly traced back to the ballroom. The man followed him quickly and took place next to him for the rest of the way.

There was an immense mess in Hadrien’s head, he still didn’t know this man’s name but he was the most interesting individual he had ever come upon, charming, powerful and knowledgeable. A dream come true really.

There was also no denying that the Lord was dangerous, his magic only spoke of long nights practicing the Dark Arts and while Hadrien wasn’t discriminative on the subject and liked to dally in this himself, he could recognize that this darkness of aura meant lots of power and dedication, with often a hefty following of people. It was honestly who Hadrien imagined Lord Gaunt looked like, and if he didn’t know from a sure source that the man wasn’t coming tonight, he would have immediately deduced the stranger was him.

As it was, Hadrien had no idea who the man was, other than a powerful British Lord with enough contacts to enter a reputed French ministry soirée. It was intriguing to say the least and the young man always liked a good mystery but now was the time for answers. It would probably be seen as rather rude but he liked to think they were beyond the usual politeness after spending more than one hour together.

So, Hadrien came to a standstill and grasped delicately the sleeve of the Lord. When he turned to him with a raised eyebrow, the young man said:

“The evening has come and is almost gone, so I would like to enquire about your name, my Lord.”

The man laughed exquisitely seemingly surprised before replying:

“Now now, don’t think our discussion is over, we have yet to talk about runes after all, I can’t let you go like that.”

Hadrien stepped back, flabbergasted that the man knew of his interest of runes or at least suspected it. Apparently noticing his mistake, the Lord took a step towards him and started to open his mouth when a male voice exclaimed:

“Lord Gaunt! I’ve been looking for you all evening!”

When Hadrien turned to face the source of the voice, he saw a moustached portly man looking directly at the Lord. Suffice to say, Hadrien took his leave quickly after paling drastically and bowing a little. He just had the time to see Lord Gaunt's scowl directed at the man before regaining the ballroom. 

The young man walked blindly through the crowd, avoiding multiple collisions by a few seconds, everything seemed hazy.

The delightful man he had spent his evening with was the most powerful man of Britain, second only to their Minister, and that was still debatable. But what interrogated him the most was his aura: how could anybody doubt the man’s true nature when it was showcased that way? Or was he only extending his aura to Hadrien? And didn’t that unveil a deep well of problems he didn’t want to touch with a stick?

Lord Gaunt was known for his politics, which was a polite way to say for his manipulations, so it seemed less than plausible that he truly wanted to speak with Lily and more probable that he wanted to speak with Hadrien, hence why he spent almost the entirety of the evening with him. But why? What were his motivations? Was it linked to his meal with Lord Malfoy and the runes problem? Or was there another hidden reason? 

Finally looking up to search for his friends, Hadrien met the gaze of Lord Malfoy, who seemed intrigued. He nodded in his direction and resumed his investigation. Where were they? Hell, they couldn’t be far, unless of course they decided to go snog in some obscure part of the ministry to later come back innocently.

Somebody grabbed his sleeve and he almost jumped from fright before turning very slowly. He exhaled thankfully when he saw the gentle face of Grégoire.

“Where were you brother? We searched everywhere for you? And where is your beloved alcohol?”

Hadrien was so relieved he couldn’t help but chuckle and linked his arm with his friend’s before replying: “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” 


	7. Chat et souris

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii, I was advised to get the help of a beta so if you're interested let me know! (I have no idea how it works)   
> Hope you enjoy this chapter, it was hard to write but hopefully it's still interesting !

When Lucius showed him Hadrien Lacroix, beside a strange déjà-vu impression, he noticed that the young man was handsome, very handsome, and quite to his taste. Maybe he could have a little fun if he proved himself to be of interest and a half-blood. Lord Gaunt wasn’t going to discriminate someone of the same purity of blood as his when they were that beautiful, Merlin knows he is way above average despite his lack of purity. Sadly, the young man was not the heir of a Noble House, which could be a problem further down the line.

The Dark Lord took a few steps in his direction before observing the splendid Avada Kedavra eyes and was enraptured immediately. No mundane person would have these two glowing orbs of power. And power, the young man was full of it, while it was controlled it wasn’t hidden and the Lord could perceive it easily. An intoxicating grey aura touching black per areas. Oh, he was going to have so much fun this evening and maybe for the rest of the night.

He was pleasantly surprised to find, even though he had already been informed of it, that the young man had a good head on his shoulders and was well educated, but what pleased him the most was the defiance Hadrien could have. It was incredibly attractive to find someone who didn’t bow down to him and it made him want to find what made the green-eyed beauty tick. An obvious cause was the condescending tone he sometimes favoured, but he also effortlessly found the easy admiration Hadrien had for his mother that would be sure to enrage him if Mme Lacroix were to be slandered. While the young man was indeed talented in navigating the upper society, he was also easy to read when someone took the time to try. But it would be a weakness to exploit, or to correct depending on the outcome of the soirée.

Lucius also had the most interesting things to say about him when asked a few hours prior:

“Hadrien Lacroix is a 17 years old, son of Lily Lacroix, a mudblood, and an unknown father, supposedly a wizard. They live in Strasbourg. He had a happy childhood and showed his first feat of accidental magic when he was 3 years old. 

He is a brilliant student of Beauxbâtons Academy, he’s the first of his year and is augured to beat the previous record of grades for his graduation exams. He’s most prominent in Charms and above all Runes. He is a friendly student, has established a lot of connections during his schooling, notably the heiress Cartier and the heir Laubère. He is very influential at school and is a reference in gossip, as he sometimes indulges in it.”

“Hmm, and what of his beliefs?”

“On the surface he is a perfect Light French boy but he would be considered gray in Britain, he practises all of the traditional rituals. Furthermore, our informant told me he had a gray aura, turning dark day by day.

About blood purity, he is very adamant on the fact that pureblood superiority is a myth and has already convinced numerous influent French people of his opinion.

To put it simply, the boy could be a danger, my Lord.”

And it was another type of danger that the Dark Lord thought about with his body plastered to the young man. He was a funny little thing, with incredible power, as was revealed when he took control of the Fiendfyre. To be honest, he reminded him at little bit of himself at the same age: ambitious, driven, smart and powerful. But there also was a purity that he never had, that the orphanage took away from him, an easy-going nature that he couldn’t hide. 

It would be his pleasure to break him, to make him surrender completely, to use him to gain France’s approval. But first, he had a letter to write, to make up for the rude interruption at the soirée.

Hadrien was lounging across the couch with ‘Osmosis of Runes and Charms’ in his hand, the practice tablet next to him on the table, when a dark eagle owl made itself known, knocking against the glass of one of the windows. He didn’t know this animal, it was probably for Lily’s work, so he let it enter, but to his surprise, the owl came straight for him, perching itself on his shoulder and extending its leg where a letter was attached.

“Do you want a strip of ham? We must have some in the kitchen”, the young man mused.

He gave the owl its strip before sending a few diagnosis spells to make sure nothing harmful was coming his way, you never know. When all came back clear, he finally took the letter and analysed it. It was a dark envelope with a red wax seal depicting two snakes intertwined, and the quality of the paper was extravagantly high. Not sensing anything amiss, Hadrien broke the seal and took out a piece of smooth parchment, with an elegant penmanship.

_Dear Monsieur Lacroix,_

_Meeting and talking with you at the ministry soirée was a pleasure that I hope is reciprocated, and I would have enjoyed greatly a few more hours of your company if we hadn’t been interrupted._

_We shouldn’t let this fruitful conversation be forgotten and I would like to continue sharing stimulating discussions with you, which is the reason I took the right to engage in a correspondence with you, if it is to your agreement of course._

_This letter, that I hope finds you well, is also an invitation to join me and a few select friends for the Yule Ritual that will take place at Malfoy Manor this year._

_Please let me know quickly of your agreement._

_Yours,_

_Lord Gaunt_

So the man was pretentious, but no surprise here, what surprised Hadrien was the easy writing of the letter, as if he had written to a friend. As far as the young man knew, they weren’t friends, more than acquaintances for sure but not there yet, so this familiarity in the signature had him astounded.

Now, for the request of a correspondence, it was an incredible opportunity that Hadrien thought he had lost when fleeing from the man at the party so he was going to agree with it, but as for the Yule Ritual, he had promised his mother that they would do it together and he would never betray a promise like that so he had to refuse the interesting offer. Which pained him truly, a celebration with Lord Gaunt, Lord Malfoy and other influential British people, what more could he have dreamed of?

At the same time, the Lord probably knew it was an unrealistic offer, one that he didn’t deserve, at least not yet, so why did he want his presence? It wasn’t for their discussions about elemental magic surely, what was the big game behind?

Hadrien knew he was a desirable association to have, with enough connections to sometimes influence outcomes, but he was still a nobody, not yet important enough to be of value to a Lord of the magnitude of Lord Gaunt. 

Hadrien took a standard parchment, a quill and some ink before answering back.

_Lord Gaunt,_

_It is with gratefulness that I received your letter and both of your propositions._

_I would be delighted to maintain a correspondence with such a well-thought person as you seem to be._

_However, I already engaged myself for another Yule Ritual so I am afraid I must decline your second offer while aware of the incredible opportunity you gave me, which I am deeply thankful for._

_Sincerely,_

_Monsieur Lacroix_

Satisfied with his answer, and only now noticing that the eagle owl was still there, Hadrien put the parchment into an envelope and sealed it, before giving it to the bird. It went immediately through the window, leaving the young man with his increasingly wandering thoughts. Lord Gaunt was a true mystery, that was for sure.

The 31st of December came quickly, with a polite answer of the Lord expressing his disappointment that he couldn’t make it to his ritual.

Lily was readying everything for the Yule ceremony, a serene smile on her face, she was adamant that the room of the ritual had to be cleaned the muggle way after Hadrien explained to her that any residual magic could interfere with the exchange of energies. The hearth had been dusted and the altar had been organized upon it.

When the sun finally set, Hadrien went outside with a bouquet of white sage followed by Lily. He then burned it and waved it around the door while chanting, the ritual continued inside each room of the house, letting the herb permeate the habitation, before ending in the lounge where the log was waiting.

When they reached the wood, Lily joined him in his chanting and they combined both their magics to raise the log and deposit it in the hearth. Using again their magic, they cast fire at it using an Incendio, and when the fire took hold, they joined their hands and finished chanting.

Opening his eyes, which he didn’t notice he had closed, Hadrien could visualize his magic, pure again after a year of environmental attacks and use. He knew his mother must be able to see her own too, and he didn’t interrupt this sweet moment of communion.

Finally, they both sat down on the ground next to the hearth, and Hadrien couldn’t bring himself to regret not going to the British gathering when he was this content with his mother.

They would have time to eat later, for now they needed to let the ambient magic take its hold on them and relieve them of the stress of this year.

After what seemed like a few minutes but could have been hours, Lily spoke:

“Do you want to know why we left Britain?”

The young man was surprised to say the least, after avoiding the subject for so many years, she decided to talk about it, maybe she thought he was mature enough to know about it but Hadrien couldn’t rejoice in it when his mother’s voice was so grave. He only nodded. And with the crackling fire as only noise, she told him everything, her voice incredibly quick as if it would alleviate the surprise of the revelation:

“You know of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named of course. He heard a… prophecy about a person who could be his equal and immediately wanted them dead. You fit the description so when Albus heard that He knew, he urged us into hiding with a Fidelius Charm, which we did. But we chose the wrong secret keeper, and he betrayed us, for what I still don’t know. So on Halloween’s night, You-Know-Who came to kill you, it wasn’t an attack against allies of Dumbledore like it was told in the papers, but your father fought with everything he had and I managed to flee with you, Harry. Your father... didn't survive. 

I had no choice but to change country, because I knew he would chase us through the entire land if that meant nobody could best him, so we came to France and he turned to the other boy who fit the description, Neville Longbottom. And the rest is history.

I guess you are safe now, He has disappeared and you aren’t the boy of the prophecy, but I can’t help but feel that He still is out there somewhere.”

Hadrien took a few minutes to think it through, his thoughts were running. He knew there was a reason they came here, but fleeing the Dark Lord was the last idea he would have had. Still, there was so many missing pieces to this story:

“You said your keeper betrayed you, who was he? Where is he?”

Lily’s suddenly gave him a fierce look:

“Peter Pettigrew, that’s his name. And I don’t know where he is, everyone thought our secret keeper was Sirius, your godfather, so they accused him of having killed Peter and threw him into Azkaban. But Peter fled after this night, I am sure of that, he must be somewhere, waiting for his master to come back”

“You knew this Sirius wasn’t the keeper so why did you let them put him into Azkaban? Mom, that’s horrible!”

It was with fury that his mother answered:

“I just lost the love of my life, my baby was chased by a madman who I had no chance against, and Dumbledore knew, what do you think I could have done? Make myself known and risk your life? Do I look stupid to you Hadrien? Do you think I care so little about your life when all I’ve ever done these past years is try to protect you so that you can have a normal life?!”

Properly chastised, the young man avoided her stare and took the time to try to make sense of it, but nothing seemed to be clear anymore, his entire childhood was a lie. To think that it could have been him in the place of Longbottom, that is if he somehow managed to survive the fatal night like the other boy had. Which was another mystery he wanted to elucidate.

Hadrien wasn’t upset, not really, did he feel betrayed? Yes, of course, but he understood and that’s maybe what made it worse. He didn’t know what having a child meant, that love and devotion you were supposed to have sure made you do incredible things, but he understood the need to protect who you held close to your heart. If the situation had been reversed, he was pretty sure he would have done the same thing to try and save his mother, and it was maybe egoistic but having an innocent pay such a dire price was sometimes necessary. While he could understand that Lily couldn’t do something, that didn’t excuse Dumbledore’s abstinence: the guy was Chief Warlock for heaven’s sake, he hadn’t been discredited by his resurrection tales yet, he was probably the most influential person alive at the moment, freeing an innocent couldn’t have been that difficult, this Sirius fellow would probably have agreed to Veritaserum if it meant freedom.

“I understand why you did it, what I don’t understand is why Dumbledore didn’t act on his knowledge”, Hadrien explained.

“I don’t know sweetheart, I don’t know, maybe it was because You-Know-Who was defeated the following night, there was such joy in the air and the entire ministry got disorganized. I don’t know, I can’t make sense of it either. But you know that Sirius escaped a few years ago, so I hope he’s better now”, Lily answered calmly.

“You mean the Sirius is Sirius Black?”

His mother looked sadly at him and caressed his cheek.

“Oh love, I deprived you of so many stories about your father and his friends by hiding the truth from you… Let me tell you about Padfoot, Prongs, Moony and Wormtail, the Marauders.”

And they talked through the Yule night about the past, purifying the lies and omissions.


	8. Retour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the lovely comments, kudos and subscriptions!   
> I'm still looking for a beta so let me know if you're interested :)   
> Ps : please enjoy this chapter exploring Beauxbatons and friendships a little more

When Hadrien returned to the Academy, it was with impatience but also a heavy heart, he didn’t want to leave his mother after their numerous heart-to-hearts during the past few days. He finally understood why his mother never wanted to show her face at ministry functions where people could come from Britain, it also was why she enjoyed so much her anonymity and used to be afraid of him pursuing politics. Everything he used to wonder about was finally answered and he somehow found himself more complete, even though he hadn’t known what was missing before.

All their talks about her youth made Hadrien want to contact his father’s remaining friends Sirius and Remus to learn more about James Potter. And if he wanted to find Pettigrew for other purposes, well it was nobody’s business but his own. The young man wasn’t used to the need of revenge, but he couldn’t ignore the fact that a man was the reason his father died, and while he couldn’t miss what he never had, he could still wonder about how his life would have turned out with two parents instead of one and a mother that didn’t need to hide herself and fear every second that a Dark Lord was going to come back to finish what he had started.

So, indeed, Hadrien wanted revenge, he wanted to practice some spells he had only read about in obscure tomes, he wanted to test the resistance of temporary blood runes on the man, he wanted so many things that he knew he would never get.

Hadrien was still lost in thoughts when the carriage arrived in the Pyrenees, but thankfully his friends didn’t mention it and only grabbed his elbow to make him go down.

He shook his head violently, to become aware of his surroundings, it didn’t do to be vulnerable now that he knew that a Dark Lord was potentially after him, if he had indeed been resuscitated more than two years ago like Dumbledore suspected. It was too convenient that the boy talked about in a prophecy suddenly disappeared, leaving the path clear for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Everything had been disturbed, and the young man would need a few days to gain his footing back.

“-drien, Hadrien?”

“What? Yes?”, he brutally asked

His three friends looked strangely at him, but Valentin answered amusedly:

“We were thinking we would take the entire evening to eat then talk about our holidays, so maybe you could not bury yourself in books for tonight?”

“Oh… Yes, I don’t see why not”, he shrugged

It was time to eat, as usual when they came back to school, so they headed toward the Salon, chatting animatedly.

The Salon was a splendid chamber the size of a ballroom, the ceiling was painted in classical style, depicting tales of magic and adventure. The walls were also filled with paintings, but these weren’t animated contrary to the ones in the corridors. It was linked to the Incident in 4th year, when one of the painting of an old pureblood family, now extinct, started to insult Valentin at each meal after somehow hearing he was a Muggleborn. Of course, Hadrien, Hélène and Grégoire rose to the bait and when verbal reciprocities weren’t enough, they studied books after books on living portraits and found a way to insert some overeager painted puppies inside the canvas. The portrait wasn’t amused and started tormenting pretty much everyone in his vicinity, prompting the Directrice to intervene and she decided to remove all of the living portraits to replace them with ancient inanimate paintings. It was the first victory of Hadrien’s stubbornness and pettiness, it made the young man quite proud.

The second one was against an old pureblood who belittled him because of his mixed blood, but that was a story for another day.

The chandeliers hanging from the ceilings were more delicate than the Ministry’s, in glass imported from Murano and exquisitely sculpted in thin teardrops.

Unlike most schools, while they still had House Elves, their chef was a French wizard, Marc, who delighted them each meal with incredible savours, mainly French cuisine but sometimes also imported dishes from countries all around the globe. He was often seen sitting at the Professors’ table when the desserts didn’t need a last glance or adjustment.

The tables were all circular with the tiniest being the Professors’ in the far end of the Salon, students were authorized and even encouraged to come up to them if they had any worry that they hadn’t managed to talk about before, so it was a common occurrence during the autumn months to see firsties walk to the table, wringing their hands.

Apart from this table, there were seven others, one per year, all circular in chestnut wood, which allowed a lot of interactions, particularly useful for forming connexions and exchanging enamoured glances if one was in the mood. The lovebirds would later disappear in a secret passageway revealed by resolving a complicated puzzle or by pulling a certain book from the shelves of the diverse bookcases littered around the castle.

The four of them sat down at their usual place, placing Hadrien across Louise, who winked at him and mouthed a “Thank you for the present”. He smiled widely, thanked her in return and waited for the Headmistress’ speech.

Mme Maxime graciously stood up from her seat at the Professors’ table, prompting the entirety of the students to stand up too and cleared her throat. She didn’t need to, she easily towered over everyone, making the student body focus on her, but she liked to pretend she didn’t command attention.

“Dear Students, it is my pleasure to welcome you back to Beauxbâtons after those Winter Holidays, and for those of you who didn’t leave, I am just as happy to see you tonight. Even though those vacations were surely recreational, it is my duty to remind you that we expect you to work your hardest to maintain the reputation of excellence of the Academy. I am sure that you will once again exceed all expectations and prove the world the value of French people. On this obvious note, good appetite!”

The dishes appeared on the tables when she sat down and the students followed her lead, chattering enthusiastically.

“So, how were your holidays Valentin?”, Hélène asked

“Oh, quite boring honestly, except when I received your presents of course, I’m sure you have much more to tell me!”

“Well, Hadrien has been quite tight-lipped about the Ministry soirée so maybe we will learn more about it tonight!” exclaimed Hélène

The sound garnered the attention of the surrounding students and the mentioned young man smiled amicably at them before throwing a nasty glare at his friend.

Grégoire gently redirected the discussion:

“I’m sure we will know more later, but you should know Hadrien and I have met Lord Malfoy, which we will discuss where there are fewer prying eyes. Hélène?”

Valentin looked slightly envious before directing his attention to their friend.

“Oh you know this and that, a lot of connecting had to be done for my father’s satisfaction. He’s still trying to patch me up with the most powerful heir or monsieur, which is quite annoying.”

Hadrien felt Grégoire tense up next to him and he put a sympathetic hand on his knee.

“Still, I met a lot of interesting people, you would have adored some of them Valentin, they were extremely interested in Transfiguration and skilled of course. There were of course the usual messieurs who were only known for their money and therefore weren’t engaging at all.” She whispered the last part.

Hadrien knew better than to ask for names and potentially expose his friend to judgement or hatred.

Hélène was a very cautious person usually but it seemed that the happenings of this holidays finally got the best of her, for her to speak so publicly and negatively about influent persons. It wasn’t usual and Hadrien would enquire about her mental state sooner than later.

Hélène was often overlooked as a pretty girl, who would marry who her father wanted, bear children and spend the rest of her life making sure her family name was not discredited. And it pained her friends immensely. They knew of her fierce personality, her incredible intelligence and tender heart, without forgetting of course her magical power and her precise education which ranked her 2nd of their year, behind Hadrien only. But to be fair, she spent less time in books than him and was more on the practical side of things, which was less favoured by the educational system. The fact that all of this was overlooked because of her gender made her friends furious, and they tried in the early year of their friendship to defend her as much as possible, before she explained to them that by doing so they were discrediting her more, like she couldn’t take care of herself and was a plain damsel in distress. They stopped immediately after that, but it was hard for her to shield herself from the harsh criticism about the tiniest things she did, but mainly about her close friendship with three boys which wasn’t proper.

Happily, her mother, Brigitte, was as fierce as her daughter and temporized the grooming into a perfect wife that her father wanted to be done. It was probably all thank to this determined mother and Hélène’s strength that their friend was this independent and powerful woman, scaring some meeker men but attracting a whole lot of interesting gentlemen. The French social world and the French Pureblood Society would probably throw a fit when they learned that the Cartier’s heiress and the Laubère’s heir were enamoured with each other, and had been for three years now, with only their two closest friends knowing.

They quickly finished their meal, making small talk, and rushed out of their seats and into the main corridor as soon as they could.

Hadrien’s mind had finally quietened and he happily led his friends to the second floor’s alcove, which led to a secret classroom never used, that they transformed into a cosy meeting emplacement during 3rd year.

He opened the door and waited until they all took place on the comfortable cushions or chairs dispersed around the room. Then, he waited again, but this time for his friend’s curiosity to overthrow their politeness. It was Valentin who lost first.

“So! What happened at the soirée then?”

His eyes were almost scintillating in the dim lighted room, gathering the lightning of the moon from the open window.

Grégoire and Hélène stared at the raven-haired young man with inquisition and Hadrien finally began to explain:

“As usual, one might say, I was getting acquainted with the profusion of wines and liquors, when a charming and mysterious man came my way and enquired about my mother’s whereabouts.” He let a pregnant pause take hold before continuing. “We talked about my mother’s accomplishments, about elemental magic and he offered to help me master a spell in the gardens, away from prying eyes, all this without telling me his name…”

“You didn’t go! Tell me you didn’t go!” Hélène exclaimed

Grégoire and Valentin laughed a little at her overprotectiveness but couldn’t shake off the unease they felt at the idea of their friend alone with a stranger in the dark gardens of the Ministry.

Hadrien only chuckled before resuming his explanations: “Did you miss the charming part? He was well-versed in Charms, how could I refuse the offer? Anyways I followed him, he helped me master the spell effectively, which mind you, wasn’t surprising given his powerful aura, and we slowly got back to the party. Then, when I demanded to know his name, a man came our way and addressed him by almost screaming…”

He let again the suspense take a hold on his friends and when Hélène seemed about ready to snatch the words from his mouth, he finished: “Lord Gaunt!” 


	9. Réaction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for the lovely support, it motivates me a lot !  
> Still looking for a beta, contact me if you're interested :)

Hadrien wasn’t disappointed by his friends’ reaction, he would cherish the memory of their gaping mouths for a long time. Grégoire was the first to move and sprang from the table to grab him by his shirt and furiously shake him while screaming:

“You met Lord Gaunt! Oh my god, I can’t believe you met Lord Gaunt before my father!”

To be honest, Hadrien was gleeful, he had hardly realised what happened and with the turmoil of his mother’s declaration, he barely had time to process and question his interaction with the British Lord.

To see his friend’s reaction put everything into perspective and made him realise the enormity of what took place at the Ministry’s soirée. Grégoire and Valentin were both excited and inquiring about every possible detail, but Hélène, after the initial shock wore off, seemed thoughtful, and Hadrien knew that didn’t mean anything good for him.

He answered every single question his male friends had for him, carefully changing the subject anytime they got close to the nature of the spell he got taught, which didn’t escape Hélène’s notice if her curious eyes were anything to go by. Finally she decided to ask her first question:

“You talked about his aura, what was it like?”

And Hadrien didn’t really know why, because he trusted them with his life and even more, but he lied. It felt like a betrayal to them, but an even bigger betrayal would have taken place if he told them of the dark nature of Lord Gaunt’s aura. The young man couldn’t really explain what he felt, but there seemed to be a feeling of redeemability after the Lord helped him master the Fiendfyre. So, he simply said:

“I don’t really know, it felt very grey to me and incredibly powerful, but I only felt it for a nanosecond so I’m afraid I can’t tell you more.”

They ticked a little at that but didn’t call him out on his omission.

After a few more minutes telling and retelling the story with more details each time, but omitting still what he wanted, Valentin asked the interesting question:

“Do you have any idea why a powerful Lord spent his entire evening with you, even though there were many people more powerful and useful than you?”

“First of all, ouch, you hurt my feelings-”, his friends laughed at that before he continued, “but no, to be honest it has been worrying me, although worrying is a strong term, for the past few days. I don’t buy for one second his search of my mum when it is known that she doesn’t attend Ministry soirées, so the real question is what use am I to Lord Gaunt?” 

His friends seemed also worried by the formulation he chose and pondered on it for a few minutes during which you could hear, like a distant echo, the noise of their fellow students getting back to their year’s room.

Grégoire was the one to offer an answer:

“You will certainly have a future in the French politics so maybe he considers you as a worthy… investment for lack of a better word? But, without wanting to seem arrogant, Hélène and I would have been more judicious for him to contact. Though he may consider I am already a loss of time according to my father’s response, and sadly he may consider that Hélène, as a woman, isn’t as noteworthy as you.”

Hélène frowned a little but finally acquiesced and Valentin seemed totally sold to his friend’s explanation. Hadrien, himself, was a little sceptical of such a simple answer, the covert way the Lord had to accost him seemed to have a different goal but, seeing that he couldn’t explain his unease to his friends without seeming paranoid, he agreed after a few seconds.

Navigating towards safer topics, Hélène asked about the meeting with Lord Malfoy, which Grégoire happily described with Valentin expressing his admiration in the right places and seeming enthralled by the story.

After what seemed like a few minutes but were more likely an hour or two, the three cords of alto used to warn the students of the curfew approaching resonated inside the entire castle, prompting the four friends to slowly make their way back to the seventh years’ room.

They reached quickly the second floor and entered their room. The room was, for lack of a better term, cosy. The color scheme was pretty neutral but still with an underlining of Beauxbatons’ colours. So a lot of beige and sky blue, with numerous cushions and couches. Of course, as usual in french architecture, there were a lot of windows, surrounded by curtains of the most exquisite pastel blue. A huge bookcase was visible from the entrance, but still quite setback, and it was a “distraction” bookcase, full with non-academical books. Hadrien was fond of it, and when he wasn’t busy tormenting himself with an incredible number of books to study, he liked to immerse himself in some fiction books. The occasions weren’t many but still filled him with joy.

They took place into one of the most withdrawn sky blue couches and the raven-haired man could still see how disturbed his friends were with his explanation of the ministry soirée. But now, in a public setting, they couldn’t really discuss it so the next hour was filled with pleasantries and the telling of Valentin’s holidays with the Muggle traditions. As usual, the two pureblood heirs were very attentive while Hadrien was already familiarised with the customs thanks to his mother and could let his gaze wander.

It was probably for this reason that he could see Louise desperately try to dry her tearful eyes, with little success. When she felt his stare, she looked at him briefly, smiled in a reassuring way then continued her discussion with some of her friends. Hadrien couldn’t help but feel intrigued and promised himself to be informed of the drama happening in their year’s group.

As it was, Grégoire quickly recounted their encounter with Lord Malfoy, again, for Valentin, letting some details fade away in his heroic tale, painting his father in the best light. But his friend wasn’t stupid and Hadrien knew he was aware that the way that Monsieur Laubère chose was almost as dangerous as it was pretentious. The son could rarely admit the father’s fault, that was a given fact. But still, the green-eyed man knew, after his productive encounter with Lord Gaunt, that the man wasn’t one you wanted to displease : he was powerful enough to bring to your knees without a following, but the man had followers, and even more so, followers as powerful as Lord Malfoy. To say that Hadrien was worried for Monsieur Laubère was an understatement, and he knew that his friend was even more so after his tale of meeting Lord Gaunt. But he had to give it to him, his friend had an almost impenetrable façade, and aside from Hélène’s pronounced stare, nobody seemed to have noticed that anything was amiss.

After Hélène complained discreetly about her many suitors, without attracting any attention, but without conviction, they noticed that the room was almost empty, and they slowly stood up to regain their bedrooms.

Hadrien noted that Louise was pretending, quite poorly, to be asleep in a rocking chair near the fireplace and gestured to his friends to go without him. When he was sure that they were alone, after a stray girl finally took her head out of her historical book, he approached cautiously the fireplace and decided on an open but intimidating pose.

“What are you trying to do by posing like that Hadrien? Aren’t we friends?”, Louise asked after a pause during which she opened slowly her blue eyes.

“Well I don’t know, you were pretending to be asleep so I pretend to have an ulterior motive I guess”, he answered jovially.

The silence was pregnant after his sentence and he took the time to adjust his elbow on the fireplace, to make himself seem more approachable. It seemed to do the trick because Louise continued:

“So, you’re probably wondering about my holidays, like friends do, right?”

The young man noticed easily that the young woman insisted on the notion of friends quite heavily and quickly scrolled though the numerous acquaintances that could have hurt her. He picked a few but reserved his judgement for after her admittance.

“I’m wondering about them if it’s the reason of your tears, of course.”

“Straight to the point, that’s quite unusual of you Hadrien”, she said shakily.

He only shrugged and waited for her to cut the chase. While he waited, she took a few deep breaths, wringed her hands and shook her head a few times before finally deciding to answer to his prodding.:

“You, of course, know that my mother is an influent woman in the french society?” She continued without waiting for an answer. “Well, she chewed more than she could swallow and decided to refuse an invitation of Lord Malfoy and he didn’t really protest but he mentioned casually that it would be a shame if I wasn’t accepted in my internship of Potions under Professor Snape. Now, my mother still refused to go and I just learned from Catherine that Professor Snape is the godfather of Lord Malfoy’s son! What am I supposed to do? I can’t apologize on behalf of my mother, and I can’t go to this gathering he is holding because I’m not even invited! Why would he invite a half-blood honestly… And Catherine didn't even seem to care that she potentially announced the destruction of my future!”

Hadrien placed a comforting hand on her shaking shoulders and willed his brain to think of a plausible solution. He knew the real problem behind this was a handsome and mysterious Lord who was, he could easily admit to it, trying to gather influential French people. But well, French people didn’t like sharing the spotlight and even less with an English person.

The reaction of Louise’s mother wasn’t unexpected but it was likely she didn’t properly grasp the ramifications of her refusal, like Monsieur Laubère. They weren’t the bigger fish anymore and it was time they realised it.

Madame Vianger was an interesting woman, she abandoned her wealthy and pure family name to marry the man she loved, a muggle. Fast-forward a few years, Louise is a baby girl and Madame Vianger is a divorced single mother, which can be considered the most shameful status a woman can have, well at least she had her daughter during wedlock, but still she had to keep a straight face in front of the entire French wizarding and muggle society, which she did, without flinching once in public. She took all the hate she was given and turned it into a strength, and became the most influential French woman without the help of a name, only using her talent for Transfiguration and, honestly, manipulation. Louise received a lot of this hate too, but that was probably the reason why she took care of the magazine of the Academy: if you talk about them enough, they won’t talk about you, and even less if you control everything that is published.

Now, Hadrien’s relationship with Louise was special to say the least, she was his first real friend at the Academy and they both shook on their friendship after admitting that it was mostly because it was mutually beneficial. While French society was a lot more advanced than others regarding the purity of blood, some kids from ancient families still wanted to make everybody understand that they were worthier than others, so the harassment began. Because of his unsure blood status and because of Louise’s mother known reputation, they were often the preferred target. Some muggleborns like Valentin could have been, but they tended to shut their mouths and wait for the storm to pass, therefore not making the most interesting person to bully.

The two young acquaintances at the moment, decided that the right way to answer was to escalate, so escalate they did. They studied harder than ever, not only to quench their thirst for knowledge but to be more proficient at everything related to magic than those mightier than thou purebloods, and to be able to defend themselves against upper years. Their biggest enemy was a fourth year girl, ferocious and sometimes downright cruel. But they quickly got faster, better and meaner and after a potion, concoted by Louise, left her with tormented thoughts for three weeks, the bullying stopped. It also probably helped that the harassment was mentioned to the first year’s principal professor by Hélène.

So yes, they went way back and around third year they stopped pretending they were only friends because of a mutual benefice and more because they simply enjoyed each other’s wit and sometimes arrogance. They both knew they could trust the other and Louise knew he was aware of far too much things for her to be able to shame him in the magazine, so, with the deed already done, she started confiding to him every big trouble or doubt she had. 

She was probably the closest thing to a sibling he had, with the arguments sometimes overshadowing the love they felt for each other, but there was an undeniable need to help the other and see them happy.

After thinking for a few seconds, Hadrien finally got the answer he was looking for and exclaimed in the otherwise quiet room:

“What if I tell you I can find a way for you to go to the party Lord Malfoy is hosting?”


	10. Amis et correspondants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi!   
> I hope you're all doing fine this Halloween day, I guess it inspired me to write (my country is confined again so I have more time on my hands I guess)  
> I'm still looking for a beta so don't hesitate : contact me if you're interested ! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter ! :)

Louise shook her head for a few seconds before staring, openly disturbed, at him. It let Hadrien the time to realise that he may have been too generous in his offer and that placing all of his hopes on a man he had briefly met at a soirée and who had surely far more important things to do than get an invitation for an almost teenager was quite a risky move. But, as quickly as they had teared up during her story, Louise’s eyes lit up and a tentative smile appeared on her face.

“Really? How?”, she asked hopingly.

He insentiently passed his fingers through his hair and answered vaguely:

“I may have some contacts in the English society, but I can’t give you names.”

“Come on, I thought we didn’t have a lot of secrets for each other!”

The young lady was frankly revigorated and while it enchanted Hadrien, it also put him in a difficult position, he didn’t want to downgrade their friendship but he also didn’t want to let anyone else know about his meeting with Lord Gaunt, so he just shrugged and started to leave the room, muttering a “Good night” under his breath. When he was almost out of the room, Louise exclaimed: “Thank you Hadrien, whoever your contacts are!”. He turned around quickly, nodded once and took off to his room, trying to flee his friend almost as much as his invading thoughts.

_Dear Lord Gaunt,_

_I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirit._

_I am afraid I didn’t have the time to answer to your last correspondence, but I can assure you right now that my answer would have been full of disappointment at not being able to make it to the Yule ritual you invited me to._

_To be honest, the reason I am addressing you this letter is multiple : it is first to make sure our conversation, and so relationship, doesn’t dull, and also to enquire about a soirée I heard about that is going to take place at the Malfoy Manor._

_You see my friend, Louise Vianger, reputed nationally for her potions and her influence, learned quite sadly that her mother couldn’t go and was wondering if she could replace her. You wouldn’t know anything about this possibility, would you my Lord?_

_As writing etiquette orders to, I will now distract you with a few sentences about my holidays and return to the Academy._

“Hadrien?”

The young man precipitately hid his letter and turned around to see the inquiring face of Grégoire.

“We’re going to be late for class, who are you writing to?”

“Oh, just my mom, to let her know about my return to the Academy, you know how worried she can get.”

His friend seemed sceptical for a few seconds but obviously decided to drop it and he only said:

“I see. Well, we’re going to be leaving without you for the Salon if you don’t hurry up.”

Hadrien quickly gathered his writing material and his still drying letter, casting a silent privacy spell on it to make sure no one but him could read it at the current time.

They met Hélène and Valentin down in the 7th years’ room and quickly took off, walking along paintings and briefly stopping to chat with a few students.

The breakfast was a quiet event, Hadrien ate one croissant, drank one dark coffee and decided it was enough to fuel him until lunch. Hélène was staring morosely at her milk coffee while Grégoire was staring at her and Valentin was establishing contact with a sixth year quite influential, no doubt preparing his list of useful acquaintances for the professional world.

Lifting his head up, the green-eyed man caught the pointed stare of Louise who smiled innocently at him, before royally ignoring him for her friend Catherine. He could only hope that his friend hadn’t informed the entirety of her network that he somehow had a way in the most wanted event of the British society. She was smart and loyal enough not to do so.

When the three notes resonated in the Salon, all the students stood up and, almost diligently, made their way to their respective classrooms.

The 7th years had Alchemy and while not the strongest topic of Hadrien, he studied and practiced enough that it came quite easily to him.

Their teacher, Madame Louvres, yes, like the museum, was a meek looking young woman, she seemed barely out of adolescence but yet detained the power to fabricate the essence of happiness itself. She showed them how to do it, but under strict supervision by a ministry employee and with the order to never try to do it themselves. It was said that this essence was so addicting that people had killed, tortured, maimed, and done other unpleasant things to try and taste it again. So yes, it was under a hard regulation, understandably.

Hadrien had toyed with the idea to make some to sell and above all gain the favour of some politicians but quickly realised all the drawbacks it could have to be on the wrong side of the law. Politics were more about toeing around the line than spontaneously crossing it.

It was a lesson efficiently learned when their World Studies’ teacher, Monsieur Philor, showcased some examples of people who payed gruesomely the side they had chosen to gain power. Of course, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was amongst them, but many others were too, some dark marabout in South Africa, a short-term Empress in China... Their common factor was the terror they tried to instil, and it was also their fatal mistake. Where terror was, so was rebellion, and rebellious people were often brave, or tried to be, and so more prone to foolish actions that could end lives prematurely.

Hadrien wanted to gain his power in a fair manner, he wanted to gain the respect of every single person he crossed path with, and while it was impossible, it was a good enough motivation to keep him going and for him to work hard on his pristine reputation. Without knowing why, he had revealed a darker part of his power and personality to Lord Gaunt, and while disgruntled to know it could be leverage against him if the older man truly deemed him worthy of his time, he knew he wasn’t without resources: he knew the true colour of the Lord’s aura and that only was enough to somehow guaranty his safety.

But why did Gaunt reveal this information so early in their relationship? It wasn’t about trust, not with a man this influent, it was more about a power play, but one he couldn’t grasp all the ramifications of.

‘I’m sure to barely get any sleep tonight too’, the young man thought morosely.

While he was lost in his head, they had crossed almost the entirety of the castle and Louise had tried to get his attention at least a couple of times, but the green-eyed man payed it no mind.

The Alchemy classroom was his favourite, it was entirely made of glass, but enchanted in such a way that it was more stable than any stone wall could ever dream of. This way, he had a nice view of the grounds behind the castle, or more specifically, the forest.

While the forest was not as dangerous as the Hogwarts’ one was reputed to be, centaurs still lived inside it and there was most likely a pack of werewolves based on the howls sometimes heard at night. They had never tried to explore it, but one upper year did three years ago, and two weeks after being admitted to the Health Wing, he left the Academy definitively. That was enough of a message of cautiousness that Madame Maxime didn’t even try to make an example out of him and simply let the gossip mill and the magazine make their way.

They all took place at their normal seats, and after a few pointed looks from Louise during the start of the class, she let it go. It was a reviewing session today and Hadrien, seated next to Hélène, let her take control of the realisation of a spirit attraction potion. He preferred to use this precious time to finish his letter to Lord Gaunt, and after writing a few expected courtesies, he sealed it and took off the spell, enabling somebody else than him to read it.

The school owls weren’t quick or reliable enough so he would have to ask one his friends to borrow theirs. And, if Hadrien was honest, it was a subtle enough power move if, like it was expected, Lord Gaunt recognized the crest of an important French family attached to its claw, preferably the Cartier’s one.

The young man was having more fun these past days than he ever had, mind games in the ministry were interesting enough, but none of the people he had interacted with were of the importance of Lord Gaunt. It also meant that his mistakes, if there ever were some, would be of a wider span and the repercussions could be disastrous for his career in politics, but Merlin, if he played his cards well, the price he would reap! 

Hadrien hardly payed any attention to the rest of the two hours lesson, barely answering when he was asked directly or when the rest of the class didn’t know the answer, except Hélène of course.

It wasn’t against Mme Louvres, she was a wonderful and interesting woman, that made sure to encourage him when he took a longer time than he liked grasping the concepts at the start of the course in 4th year. But, when his mind was preoccupied by an enigma like Lord Gaunt, nobody could completely distract him from it. He also was somehow worried about the lies, or omissions, he told his friends, it was a first, honesty was the key between them but he had shattered their relationships’ principles, all for a man he barely knew. An intoxicating man, yes, but still barely an acquaintance.

Their next class was Charms, with Madame Bourgeois, and that was enough for him to gather his thoughts and participate in his friends’ conversation on their way to the right wing of the castle. They crossed path with a few 6th years and almost all of them shared a nod with Hadrien and Valentin. The public image of the two friends was so carefully constructed that all the student body only had positive things to say about them, except of course the occasional pureblood supremacist asshole. But they knew better than to try and attack them, it would only result in a few inexplicable nightmares and a cold shoulder from the Cartier and Laubère heirs.

Hadrien and Valentin had learned not to be vexed when some feared the cold shoulder more than their retaliation or the cutting words of the muggleborn young man, but it still stung sometimes when they wanted to scream that they were already influent enough to be a threat without any association. It was a kinship they both shared, that their pureblood friends tried to understand but could never grasp completely. Such was the difference due to birth.

Despite that, their group was fusional without any friendship’s preferences outside of the obvious romantic inclination between Hélène and Grégoire.

Mme Bourgeois was waiting in front of the classroom and motioned for them to enter, giving Hadrien one her rare smiles while doing so.

The disposition of the room had been changed, all the desks and chairs were in a corner and, seeing their inquisitive stares, she explained:

“Today is practice day, while I know that we are not in a duel lesson, I will still expect you to defeat your opponent, but using only non-offensive charms. Are you up for the challenge?”

They all murmured their agreement and she started to assign partners for this class, Hadrien wanted to chuckle when he saw a few fearful gazes thrown his and Hélène’s way, they were probably going to get paired or the lesson could quickly become boring for them. He was right, and they both faced each other with a challenging smile on their faces.

The next two hours were a blur of colours and spells, and the young man was happy to have thought about counting the number of victories each when he saw that he was easily leading at the end with 12-4. He could do better, had to do better, but Hélène was a worthy opponent, and what she lacked in practice, being less interested in Charms than him, she made up for with cunning.

When the lesson ended, with a few last pointers by Madame Bourgeois, they all gathered and started walking towards the Salon to eat, before Hadrien thought about the letter’s weight in his pocket and asked:

“May I borrow one of your owls to send a letter?”

He pointedly stared at Hélène and Grégoire, and the former therefore felt inclined to answer positively but not before latter teased him:

“Oh yes, I’m sure your mother would dislike receiving your letter from a school owl.”

The green-eyed-man only gave him a bashful shrug but Hélène grabbed him by the arm and waved at his two other friends: “Keep us a seat!”

When they nodded, the young man and woman took off towards the owlery. Thankfully, his friend didn’t push when she saw that Hadrien wasn’t inclined to explain, and she honestly probably had her doubts about who his recipient was. He didn’t know why he didn’t want them to know, but keeping his correspondence with Lord Gaunt a secret kind of made him feel giddy with excitement so he figured it wasn’t such a bad thing. That was as far as he pushed his weak reflexion and explication.

They sent the letter with the Cartier crest dangling from the claw of the owl and quickly made their way to the Salon, chatting about the Charms lesson and Mme Bourgeois’ pointers. 


	11. Réponse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone,   
> Here is another chapter, thank you for all your kudos and adorable comments, they brighten my days!   
> Hope you enjoy it!

The response to his letter took its sweet time arriving, or maybe it seemed like it because Louise spent every waking moment making pitiful, but dignified, eyes at him.

It actually arrived a week after his letter was sent, and written -he hated himself a little for the precipitation he showed-, during dinner. The Cartier’s owl had returned two days after it was sent, therefore making the young man more anxious, and sometimes no longer expecting a reply to his outrageous request.

The letter was carried by the same beautiful dark eagle owl, and during a trick of the light, it almost seemed like the owl had reptilian eyes, but Hadrien quickly shook the notion away and grasped the envelope tightly. The messenger took flight after stealing some of the meat Hadrien put aside. It was only when it flied away that the young man noticed the uncharacteristic silence from half the table.

“That’s not your mother’s owl”, Hélène observed.

Hadrien merely smiled while putting away the letter, but not before silently charming it to open only for him. You could never be too cautious.

The conversations resumed after that, his classmates seeing that he had no intention to explain who it was from. It was a testament to the observance of his comrades and the peculiarity of the owl that they noticed, he received half frequently letters from diverse Messieurs and Mesdames who wished to discuss his ideas and plans for the future but they knew something was different about this one letter.

Hadrien finished his dinner earlier than usual, barely ending his plate and forgoing dessert entirely, to swiftly stand up and murmur in Valentin’s ear that he had business to attend and that he would join them in the 7th years’ Room after.

The young man was too dignified to run so he merely walked briskly, noticing despite the caution executed, that somebody was following him. At a corner on the first floor, he quickly hid behind a shelf and waited, before pouncing on his follower.

“What do you want?”, he said coldly, before recognizing Louise.

She chuckled a little, the fear in her eyes receding: “Why Hadrien, I didn’t expect you to be so tense!”

“The question still stands Louise, I bet you have a good reason for following me so closely and… well, trying to be discreet.”

His friend put away a strand of her hair in a nervous habit he recognized before answering: “I’m just wondering if that letter is from your mysterious contact who could get me into the Malfoy party”

Hadrien searched any hint of deception in her eyes but could only see her earnest curiosity and, hidden behind, her desperate need to know. He decided to shrug and lie: “No it isn’t, it’s just another Monsieur who wants to discuss our diverging opinions”

At that, Louise laughed somewhat bitterly and walked away towards the Salon: “Be sure to think of me when, or if, you’ve decided to stop lying, you didn’t even look at the name on the back of the letter.”

Cursing silently under his breath, he upgraded the volume of his voice: “I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve got a straight answer, not before.”

She only turned to stare at him for a few seconds before huffing and continuing her way.

‘Well, I suppose it could have gone better’, Hadrien thought, but he couldn’t regret lying to her, not when she would have noticed the name at the end of the letter if she decided to read it with him. His relationship with Lord Gaunt was fragile enough without him hearing of the entire Academy knowing about their acquaintance. While they both were opportunistic towards each other, Hadrien had far less to offer to the Lord and therefore was expendable easily.

He went to his bedroom quickly and tore open the letter.

_Dear Monsieur Lacroix,_

_It is with the utmost pleasure that I received your missive, and with it its majestic owl._

_It found me in good health and in increasingly good spirit after reading your words._

_I appreciate your straight-to-the-point attitude and can assure you that I know of the promising Mademoiselle Vianger, it would indeed be a pity should she not attend the soirée._

_I have asked Lord Malfoy his opinion about it and he was quite against the notion that your friend wouldn’t attend, paying for her mother’s ignorant decision._

_Therefore it is my pleasure to inform you that both Mademoiselle Vianger and you, Monsieur Lacroix, are warmly invited to the Malfoy soirée._

_You can find a ring in the envelope that will serve as a portkey and activate the 20 th April at 6:00PM sharp, leading you to the Malfoy Manor. _

_It is with impatience that I await your confirmation, and with even more delight that I anticipate the conversations we are going to have at the soirée._

_Yours,_

_Lord Gaunt_

Now, Hadrien, still under the shock of the surprise invitation, gathered a few things from this answer, and quite a few of them were unpleasant:

Firstly, Gaunt was way too familiar with him and if he hadn’t heard of the rumours concerning the Lord’s many women lovers, he would think that the older man was flirting with him. But he wasn’t, because Hadrien didn’t have the time or capability to try and grasp all the ramifications of it.

Did he feel flattered? Yes, definitely. At the very least, the Lord thought of him as a good conversationalist, or a very useful pawn, and at the most, he held Hadrien in a high enough esteem to be somewhat affectionate with him.

Secondly, Hadrien’s attempt to play coy and not mention Louise’s mother was decimated. Not only did the older man mention her, noticeably not using her title, but he also wrote something as unpleasant as “ignorance” about her, and that said a lot. Madame Vianger was out of favour of Lord Gaunt and Lord Malfoy, who were not only almost certainly the two most powerful Lords of Great Britain but also gaining quickly the approval of the French magical society.

As discreet as Lord Gaunt thought he was, Hadrien had heard a lot of his classmates gossip about their parents’ new acquaintance, Lucius Malfoy. And the young man wasn’t stupid enough to think that Lord Malfoy was gaining influence for himself only, he had after all contacted Monsieur Laubère for Lord Gaunt. But it would be underestimating the platinum blonde man to expect him to be a mere pawn for the other Lord: by gaining the approval of the French magical society, he also increased his sphere of influence and could gain the support of some British families.

As Hadrien was seeing it, the classmates who spoke of the man weren’t only Pureblood families, some Halfbloods with influence were also in the package which meant that either the adults had forgotten the bloody history behind the Malfoys name, or believed the man when he claimed that he had been Imperiused by the Dark Lord.

Honestly, had he been naïve enough, Hadrien could have believed him too, he had seen the archives and the Lord seemed uncharacteristically earnest in his justification, but, knowing now that the man he was helping gain influence had a Dark aura, it was impossible that he had spoken the truth when he swore never having dabbled in any Dark magic. It could be a white little lie, but having met the man, and his cold manners, and his almost imperceptible thirst for power, Hadrien could only see how easily, and beautifully, the man would have bowed to serve a greater cause he thought the good one, to add power to the pureblooded families while crushing the others to dust.

To put it simply, Lord Malfoy was an asshole lusting for power, but an influent asshole nonetheless, that had gained support from British families by acquainting himself with some halfbloods French wizards.

So, while the French families mentioned expansively their acquaintance with the blonde man, he was gaining new allies and would soon have enough power to truly influence the Wizenmagot’s decisions. It was a terrifying thought for Hadrien, because, while he didn’t know the hidden agenda of Lord Gaunt, Lord Malfoy was becoming a menace for the safety of Muggleborns and Halfbloods by himself.

Hadrien knew not to judge people based on the magic they practiced, he had himself a rather grey aura, but Lord Malfoy had the beliefs and the power, so it wasn’t really about his magic most certainly being dark, the young man couldn’t care less, but it was about the man being a threat to his political plans. He had to make sure to talk a few minutes with the man, if only to try and catch his opinion on Pureblood supremacy, but he was almost sure to be disappointed.

Thirdly, while Hadrien only mentioned Louise, Lord Gaunt had decided to invite him and it meant that the British man wanted to be more than an acquaintance with him because they had already reached that level. And everything came back to the reason why the Lord had not only approached him at the Ministry soirée but also spent the entirety of the evening with him. Not knowing the hidden reason infuriated the young man, and he wished, for the first time, that he had used Legimency to grasp a few thoughts. Well, the Lord was surely proficient at the art if he was half as powerful as rumours made him to be, but fools could still hope.

Deviating from the offensive part of the art, Hadrien suddenly stood up, alert, from the sitting position he had on his bed. Could the Lord have used Legimency on him and gained information about his mother from this? Was he willing to become a concurrent in the Charms field?

As quickly as his panic had arrived, it abated, he would have felt it if somebody tried to breach his Occlumency walls.

To be certain, Hadrien spent the next twenty minutes making sure they were intact and strengthening them. He would have to work on them before the soirée, it was rumoured that Severus Snape was a master at the art and the young man didn’t want to project accidentally some embarrassing stories about Louise to her potential tutor.

Hadrien hid the envelope with the letter and the ring still inside it and decided to join his friends in the Room, furthermore, he could use the distraction of the numerous students to inform Louise of the invitation. It would probably avoid a lot of embarrassing tears, the young woman knew how to hold back in public.

It was with a mind full of possibilities and queries that Hadrien went into the Room and headed straight for Louise. He delicately grasped her elbow and led her away from her inquiring friends and into an empty corner of the room. He simply whispered in her ear: “Be prepared for the 20th of April at 6PM sharp”. Her eyes widened discreetly, and she took his hand, holding it tightly before fervently murmuring thank yous over and over.

Seeing her eyes water almost imperceptibly, Hadrien was grateful there were witnesses present. He always had a problem with too emotive people, or having their heart on their sleeves, it was way too dangerous and, to be honest, stupid.

Louise was rarely like that, she had toughened up a lot, like he had, with the bullying they faced in their early education, but sometimes, feelings seemed to get the best of her and it could be hard for her to get out of it. Hadrien handed her a book from a nearby shelf so she could hide her face when she inevitably decided to move to cry it out in her room. She nodded thankfully and went on her way, leaving him to join his friends. They all stared interrogatively at him and when he smiled genuinely and motioned a "later" with his hands, they dropped it. Secrets or omissions never lasted long between them, well except about Lord Gaunt, but that was a problem he would face later.


	12. Maman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I wish you all a happy new year!   
> Thank you for the comments, they make me happy haha   
> Here is the new chapter !

He cornered Grégoire discreetly the following day, asking him to borrow his owl and to join him in the owlery.

The official version was that he needed him to tame his owl a little, which could be quite aggressive when confronted with somebody outside of the Laubère family, but in reality, he had postponed way too long this discussion.

So when they were finally alone in the owlery, the answer to Lord Gaunt sent with the Laubère’s owl and a letter explaining to his mother that he was invited to the Malfoy soirée courtesy of Lord Gaunt sent with the school’s owl, he stared at the sky and said: “I’m not trying to steal your father from you.”

The only sign that Grégoire had heard was a tiny huff he tried to hide without success. The following silence lasted a few minutes that Hadrien left to his friend so he could organize his mind and answer. Finally, he replied with a colder voice than usual but nonetheless without any aggression:

“I know you don’t, but you can understand why I feel that way. How would you feel if I asked to assist to one of the most important negotiation of your mother and spent these days with her, impressing her and talking about a common interest?”

Hadrien pondered over this before answering softly:

“I wouldn’t like it but I would know that the relationship I have with my parent is not something that a few days can change or even influence. These few days only influenced my relationship with your father in a favourable way, which you know I need for my future.”

Grégoire huffed and the green-eyed man knew what was coming. Another little and useless argument about how Valentin and him were always talking about the future and calculating every interaction, to which Hadrien would answer that he couldn’t understand because his future had been written since his birth, and not everyone had this privilege or this nightmare.

Hadrien was sometimes bitter about his important lack of birth privilege but could reason himself quickly with the reminder that his goal was founded on his struggles and therefore his life would be a very sad lump of existential dread if he hadn’t found what motivated him. Realistically, he would have had more chance to end up like Hélène, but like her, every single accomplishment would have been ridiculed and attributed to his rank in society. It was a travesty when you knew how brilliant his friend was, way more brilliant than him, that was for sure.

“Pray tell Hadrien, do you ever stop managing every single one of your actions so that they all serve you for the future? It can get tiring for us, you and Valentin know that.”

“Let’s not do this, you know that I don’t have a choice if I want to be successful”, he rebutted tiredly.

“And that’s nice, it’s a good idea to be successful, but you could be easily so much more influent if you accepted all the help you could get and stopped thinking about every single thing you do. If you want so badly to have a good relationship with my father, then take full advantage of it and ask him to play his contacts!”, Grégoire exclaimed.

Hadrien could hear the underlying frustration of his friend and the remaining bitterness about his relationship with Monsieur Laubère, but how could he convince him that he didn’t know and didn’t understand what it meant for him to reach the top without help? Furthermore, he couldn’t possibly tell him that by refusing Lord Gaunt, his father was no longer somebody you wanted to depend on, not knowing when his fall from grace was going to take place. Grégoire knew as intimately, if not more, as him that it was going to happen sooner or later, but he didn’t want to remind him and make him think that he only cared about his father when he was at the maximum of his influence.

He knew that he was treading on thin ice but he took his softest voice to answer, hoping stupidly that it would salvage more easily their close friendship:

“You know I want to owe my success and the differences I’m going to make only to myself, and maybe a chosen few, but I don’t want to depend on somebody else.”

“Well, try to remember that when you decide to charm Lord Gaunt to gain more power! Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you talk or rather think about him! And we all know this letter was for him!”

After shouting this, Grégoire furiously walked away without giving Hadrien the time to close his gaping mouth or even less catch up with him.

“What is it with people’s aggressivity these days?”, he murmured, pensively playing with his long hair.

Obviously, he should have addressed the issue with Grégoire quicker, the best would have been directly before he left the chalet, or even at the Ministry soirée away from prying ears. He had let the wound fester and received all the bitterness and hurt his friend had gathered during these times without talking. Well, they had talked, about mundane things, or even about his father, but never in the way he probably expected and wanted.

Hadrien wanted to blame only Grégoire and exempt himself from culpability, but it would be an immature thing to.

It didn’t mean that the raven-haired man forgot the aggressivity and the accusations of charming Lord Gaunt to gain power, even if it was closer to the truth than he wanted to admit. He didn’t charm him, come on! He merely discussed with him and exchanged a few lingering touches, but they were never initiated by him. And the accusations of his friend made him consider the relationship with the older man in a whole new light, that he had tried to dismiss numerous times. Maybe Lord Gaunt was indeed interested in more than a friendship with him, and how preposterous was that? He would have to sleep on it and evaluate their interactions so far, something he wasn’t keen on doing after managing it already a few times to estimate how much he could expect from the man. And wow, wasn’t he an incredibly selfish manipulator? If he didn’t know that the Lord was planning on using him, he would probably feel guilty, but for now he only felt slightly anticipative. The Malfoy soirée would probably be a wonderful game.

A few days later, he received a delighted answer from Lord Gaunt from the Laubère’s owl and an answer from Lily, that he didn’t know what to do with:

_Dearest Hadrien,_

_I received your letter like a welcome ray of sunshine in my busy day. You should write more often to your old mother, she can’t wait to hear more from you._

_I am glad school is going well and your friends are all fine, you should spend more time having fun, schoolwork and networking is important but so is being happy, my dear._

_With that said, I finish to accomplish my duty as your mother by telling you that the attention that Lord Gaunt provides you worries me._

_I have no doubt that you’re a very interesting young man, and brilliant of course, but you would think that a man of his calibre and age has other things to do than mingle and try to gain your approval repeatedly._

_I won’t forbid you to go to the Malfoy’s soirée, but I want you to be extremely cautious, specifically towards Lord Malfoy, although he was cordial with you when you met I don’t trust the man one bit and I would like you to extend the same “courtesy” to him. You are smart enough to have deduced that his previous reputation wasn’t a grave mistake but had a large truth to it and just because people seem to have forgotten it with time doesn’t mean that you can act like he is an overall respectable man._

_We will talk about this more deeply when you come back home for the holidays, Louise is welcome to come with you if she desires so._

_Sending you love,_

_Your mother_

He was trying really hard not to be irritated that his own mother didn’t seem to think he was worthy of Lord Gaunt’s attention and… thorough interest, but he had to recognize that he questioned himself the Lord’s true intentions. He had to be a pawn of the highest quality for him to devote his time to gaining his affections. He couldn’t blame her for her protectiveness and advice of caution, especially with her history of being on the opposite side, facing notably Lord Malfoy and a few others that he was almost sure to see at the soirée.

Hadrien had taken the time to reflect on the potential romantic interest that Lord Gaunt could have manifested towards him, and, reviewing their interactions within this spectrum, he was forced to admit that the older man was at minima ambivalent and most probably interested.

So, the trepidation he felt for the soirée only grew each passing day, he had to be honest and had realized that the analysis he had made of the man when they met wasn’t really… academical. But how could you be professional and academical when you were presented with such a fine man?

Yes, Hadrien admitted that he was more than a little attracted to Lord Gaunt, not only for his power and appearance but also for the quick wit the man was capable of, and that the older man was in turn romantically or sexually interested in him. Too bad for the numerous rumours of saddened women that he didn’t owl back after a supposed night of passion. He didn’t really seem like the type, but it was also possible that he played in both courts. Oh well, it didn’t matter, as long as he was the only receptor of his intense attention at the present moment.

And, to be honest, having the man interested in him only made the game more interesting. The Malfoy soirée couldn’t come fast enough.

Grégoire was giving him the cold shoulder while still trying to gauge the level of animosity Hadrien held towards him, which was frankly funny and offending at the same time.

Because Hélène had probably been informed by her boyfriend and because the green-eyed man didn’t want to leave Valentin out of it, he informed him of the situation but warned him not to pick a side. Frankly, the warning was an overkill, Valentin had played the game long enough to know that mediating was often better than picking a side, barring a few exceptions.

So, the atmosphere in their group was quite tense, with both heirs keeping mostly to themselves, even though Hélène sometimes spoke to Hadrien during class or in the 7th years’ room, but they didn’t have their usual heart-to-hearts anymore, and Valentin was in the middle, desperately trying to maintain a balance between them all while leaning more towards the long-haired man’s company.

Hadrien had no doubt that should they all pick a side, Valentin would be on his, if only because they shared the same struggles that the heirs couldn’t understand, but it wasn’t on the program. Of course, from an exterior point of view, everything was the same and nobody noticed that there were tensions in the group, well, except maybe Louise, who was by far the most observant person Hadrien knew. But she owed him a big favour and wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize her place to the Malfoy soirée, so, everything was safe and nobody knew that they had a fight at the least opportune moment to have a fight: just before the search for internships or upper education, so just before you had an intense use of your relationships.

But Hadrien would mend it, without apologizing, that was for sure, he just needed time and a little bit of reason on Grégoire’s part.


	13. Amis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! :)  
> As always, a massive thank you to everyone reading, kudoing and commenting this story!   
> I'm really sorry for the late chapter, life is pretty hectic right now with exams, internships and maintaining a social life, so thank you for waiting!   
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Grégoire finally decided that enough was enough a week after their argument. He was inconveniently stubborn, Hadrien had to recognize.

So, it was only a week before the holidays and one more exchange with Lord Gaunt after that he decided to get over his frustration and jealousy, and also over Hadrien’s clumsiness.

He cornered the green-eyed-man less discreetly, choosing an audience to be sure that his friend couldn’t refuse his offer.

“Hadrien, would you come on a walk with me?”, he asked on a sunny day.

“Yes, of course.”

And like that, they left Hélène and Valentin behind in the 7th years’ room, both giving them a respective nod. It was supposed to be encouraging obviously, but Hadrien found it more ominous than anything else.

They reached the Academy’s grounds without a single word exchanged between them. Hadrien paused at the entrance a few seconds to bathe in the direct sunlight and light breeze but also to organize his thoughts. He knew that he didn’t want to lose their friendship but he also didn’t want Grégoire to think that he was a lesser person than him, that he could attack him verbally without any consequences. He wasn’t in a comfortable position because he also had his wrongs in this situation and couldn’t just sit back and wait for his friend to beg for his forgiveness. He wouldn’t want that to happen anyway, he was way too respectful of his friend to wish to see him on his knees, be it for him or anybody.

They walked across the green grass and entered the French gardens, Hadrien understanding Grégoire’s destination without prompting. When they reached the fountain at the centre, his friend decided to sit on its edge and the green-eyed man did the same, wanting their discussion to happen on an equal basis.

It was only after a few minutes of staring at the few flowers that Grégoire cast a privacy bubble. 

“So… I’ve thought about what you said”, he started.

Seeing his friend biting his lips in an unusual show of nerves, Hadrien began to feel anxious himself. He could only hope that the next words pronounced by Grégoire didn’t signify an end to their friendship. Bracing himself, he hummed an acknowledgment of the sentence and stopped himself from fidgeting.

“Hadrien, I would like to explain myself if you don’t mind.”

The young man nodded when his friend looked inquisitively at him but didn’t answer, to be honest, he had to avoid speaking so that Grégoire couldn’t hear the potential wobble in his voice.

If his friend was destabilized by his demeanor, he didn’t show it and continued:

“I was a bit harsh with you, I don’t really think that you are charming Lord Gaunt, or well you probably are, but unconsciously. My grave mistake was forgetting that you were one of my closest friends and considering you like a simple pursuer of politics. It was disrespectful and honestly, tasteless. I promise to try to never act this way again, but you have to understand that I have a problem with you refusing to get help from my father and instead making friends with Lord Gaunt, who, we both know, doesn’t hold my father in high esteem anymore. And…”

Seeing that Hadrien was getting ready to answer to his declaration, Grégoire held up a hand and kept going:

“Wait a second please. We’re not stupid, we know that Lord Gaunt is the new great master of the board and that my father was arrogant enough to disregard that for a simple prejudice, so I know that it is more logical for you to pursue Lord Gaunt’s affection, but I’m quite bitter about the fact that you have chosen a favorite so easily between an almost stranger and the man that has always treated you right since he’s known you. Yes, don’t deny it, I know you’ve made your choice, and probably have since the meeting with Lord Malfoy, however conscious that choice was. So, what I’m trying to say is that it’s not really about jealousy of your relationship with my father, even if that stung a little bit I admit, but about you choosing your side so quickly despite our friendship and past.”

Hadrien’s head swam with declarations that he thought were all imperative to get across, so he chose the most urgent one.

“I will be honest with you, like you have been with me. I have indeed made that choice, but it is not despite our friendship or the good treatment I received from your father, to me those things are completely separate. I will keep on appreciating your father but won’t monopolize him anymore like I used to and for that I apologize, but I will also keep my correspondence with Lord Gaunt and try to gain his favour. You also have to recognize that your father, while an overall kind man, considers me like a pet project, a funny little thing to pass the time and doesn’t appreciate me like Lord Gaunt does.”

At this, Grégoire let out a tiny giggle:

“I won’t deny that the interest my father gives you probably isn’t all about appreciation, but, Hadrien, honestly, you can’t think that Lord Gaunt considers you as anything else than also a pet project?”

Hearing that, despite the kind tone of his friend, hurt him a little, but he gathered himself discreetly before answering:

“I’m think I’m more of a mean to an end than a pet project, and I don’t want to debate that when you have been exterior to all of our interactions. What I also wanted to get across to you was that I think your reaction was… less controlled than usual because you are… how do I say this?.. bitter about your father’s choice to reject Lord Gaunt’s offer, since that makes you a less influential person and therefore makes you lose value and allies in the political world.”

Hadrien almost grimaced after finishing his sentence, but it had to be said, and he observed closely Grégoire’s reaction. His friend sighed and wove his hand through his hair, smiled a little at him before saying:

“Well, that was quite harsh… But it wasn’t wrong per se, I know that my father’s decision had more ramifications than he expected and that a lot of these were about me, but it isn’t pleasant to be reminded of it when I have recently decided I will handle it alone. Anyways, I have apologized, you have apologized, we both promised to try and do better, and even if we haven’t always seen eye to eye on this particular argument, I’d like to think that we can go back to our previous state of relationship and release Hélène and Valentin from this new pressure? What do you reckon?”

Delightfully surprised that Grégoire was willing to forgive his clumsiness, again, Hadrien nodded, then, deciding it wasn’t enough, stood up and held out his arms for his friend. He laughed good-naturally and hugged the green-eyed man strongly. After a few seconds of intense hugging and after having enjoyed the proximity, they released each other, Grégoire undid the privacy spell, and they walked back to the 7th year room, trading updates of the past days.

After so much anticipation and preparation to their confrontation, Hadrien felt relieved of course but also somewhat hesitant about where they stood despite his friend's reassurance. 

Arriving in the room, they saw Hélène and Valentin barely talking and occupied with staring into the flames of the hearth. Noticing easily their tense attitude, Hadrien couldn’t help but feel grateful that he had found friends who cared so much about their friendships. When both of his friends saw them, they categorized every body clue and finally deflated when the duo smiled at them. Of course, they couldn’t express their relief outwardly but Hadrien felt it in the lowering of their shoulders, in the secretive smile they exchanged but above all in the glittering of their eyes. And suddenly, the green-eyed man understood the enormity of the discussion he had, then actively refrained himself from gathering Grégoire into another hug.

Hélène smiled brilliantly at them before indicating the stairs to the bedrooms and they all followed her guidance, as usual.

When they finally were alone, the door was locked and another privacy spell was cast, Valentin exclaimed:

“Let’s hug it out!”

And laughingly, they did exactly as told.

“So, the content of your discussion is only yours of course, but we would only like to know if we’re back to the same basis or if there is an imbalance remaining”, Hélène said, straight to the point as usual.

The two subjects of her intense scrutiny exchanged a look and Hadrien signed to Grégoire to answer, he was more familiar with his girlfriend’s need to smooth out everything, while he still appreciated it.

Sensing that this was going to be an exhausting conversation, Hadrien and Valentin decided to sit on their respective beds, facing each other and soon after, Hélène sat next to Valentin and Grégoire next to his reconciled friend.

The Laubère heir cleared his throat before beginning:

“We have both exposed our vision of the argument, and what made us tick, we have both apologized and decided to let this argument behind us and not define in any way the reprise of our friendship.”

He said all this in a single breath and Hadrien almost wanted to applaud him but stopped himself when he saw the calculating glance Valentin sent their way. Hélène nodded, seemingly satisfied with this explanation, but their other friend obviously wasn’t.

“So… what you’re implicitly saying is actually that you have only agreed to let this behind you but haven’t agreed on the perceived wrong-doings of each other?”

And there was a reason that Valentin was a name to be wary of in the political world, he was so often overlooked because of his birth name that he had access to the hidden faces that powerful people didn’t seem worth hiding in front of him, he had also learned pretty young to read every detail of every situation, and only let things slide when he liked the person in front of him or when he had a bigger game in head. He had enough blackmail to make at least half of the French aristocracy fall, taking the rest with it.

Grégoire looked helplessly at Hadrien, his jaw slightly clenched, so his friend took pity on him and decided to answer:

“We have decided that our relationship prevailed on our different visions, and explaining it more thoroughly would mean telling you what we discussed exactly, so we won’t, sorry Valentin.”

The sandy-haired man nodded with a shy smile and apologized quickly for his intrusive manners. After being reassured that they didn’t mind, they all decided to go to the library to study, and in Valentin’s case, try to coincidentally meet-up with Laura, a 6th year he fancied at the moment. Hadrien quickly grabbed some books he hadn’t read yet, laying on his nightstand.

They chatted happily on their way but quickly hushed when they arrived in front of the library and went to their usual table.

When he rummaged through his bag, Hadrien noticed he had carried the ‘British Magical Genealogy’ that Valentin had given him for Christmas and took it out.

This book was interesting for a lot of different reasons and he would need to read it thoroughly before going to the Malfoy soirée, but as always, Hadrien had a hard time refraining his curiosity and went straight to the ‘S’ families. Reading avidly the page in front of him, he didn’t notice Laura coming to their table to whisk Valentin away, but he would be glad for it, puppy love was overrated anyway.

There were three pages dedicated to the Slytherin tree, but for the detail of each descendant, you were often referred to another page, so, while still trying to burn the names into his head, Hadrien didn’t have much hope to find the Gaunt descendance in here.

After a few minutes absorbing the information, he flipped the pages to reach the ‘G’ families, and sure enough, between Gaudi and Gaver, there it was. The doomed Gaunt family, long forbidden, forgotten but above all now feared. There was only one page and Hadrien forced himself to engrave each name in his mind, from Marvolo to Morfin to Merope to… no one?

The young man flipped the page and faced again the Gaver family tree with disbelief. Of course, several explanations came to his mind, the most obvious one being that this book wasn’t expensive enough to automatically update itself and therefore leave no chance to mistakes, so it was very plausible that Lord Gaunt was a secret, maybe an unplanned pregnancy carried confidentially or an illegitimate child. But how? There wasn’t any mention of a union in the book, and it was updated only five years earlier.

Eyes gleaming with determination, Hadrien stood up and walked to the English Archives part of the library, if he was to find anything, it would be there.


	14. Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh well, I was feeling inspired tonight so I wrote another chapter, a little longer this time, I hope you like it!   
> (Still looking for a beta by the way if anyone's interested) 
> 
> Ps : Soon, very soon, they're going to meet again

Hadrien didn’t find anything worthy in the archives after going back forty years, which he esteemed was a lot compared to the youthful appearance of Lord Gaunt, but then, he probably should go back further, the British man was most realistically the grandson of Morfin or Merope Gaunt. It was such a shame that the archives were protected against personal searching spells, he could have spared many hours if they weren’t. But well, this rule was instituted by Monsieur Balthazar, a few decades ago, to guarantee that all the topics the students wanted to know more about were approved by a tutor or the librarian. According to Madame Bourgeois, the Charms teacher, it was really because some ill-intended students used the British recent Archives to garner more information about the blood-supremacy war raging on in Britain. And not to make sure nothing would happen on French soil, quite the contrary actually.

It was one of the rare occasions where one of their professors would speak of the Global Wizarding War, they were still ashamed on behalf of their ancestors for not helping and joining force with their over-the-sea-neighbours. To be honest, a lot needed to be done in their own country, with the German occupation, but still the wound remained. As a younger generation, Hadrien felt this shame less strongly but had still studied intently the War and Grindelwald, partly out of morbid curiosity, to know how far a corrupted mind could take you.

So, of course, Hadrien had the possibility to go to one of the researchers books and write the topic he wanted to know about and his name beside it, but above all he wanted his investigation to remain secret. He couldn’t ask one of his friends for help because it would raise more questions from them and from the librarian than anybody wanted to answer. He decided to ponder over it during the break and if it came to that, tweak a little the book’s magic and write another subject while still getting it to look for information on the Gaunt family. He had time, for now he just had to memorize the entirety of Valentin’s book before the Malfoy soirée. And maintain his scores of course.

The days went by, sweet and slow like syrup, but soon it was time to go home. Louise’s refusal to go to Strasbourg with him but preference to apparate to his house a few hours before the soirée was agreeable to him, he would have the occasion to converse with his mother about Lord Malfoy and Lord Gaunt more easily, and it was with a light heart that he took the carriage with his friends.

“We have barely started our final year and yet here we are, almost at the end of it!”, Valentin exclaimed.

“Don’t remind me, I still have so many Healing research to complete before I can consciously apply to some of the formations I want!”, Hélène said, obviously in distress and prompting her boyfriend to gather her in his arms.

Hadrien lifted an amused brow at the couple but wisely chose to remain silent, he had his own ambitions for the summer and therefore for his career but he didn’t want to divulge them, in fear that someone hearing him would decide to take the idea as theirs. Well that and he didn’t want to answer too many questions. Being one of the most liked student of the Academy, he had a lot of persons badgering him about his whereabouts and plans, not counting the different professors who desperately wanted him to follow their path. Lily was the only one up to date with his plans and he’d like it to remain that way.

Of course, each and every 7th year was in for some of the most stressful months of their life. Unlike their British counterparts, they didn’t have NEWTs but were evaluated for internships, formations and jobs on their report card from the 5th year and up, guaranteeing a constant respectable work ethic. Hadrien didn’t know what the best method was but he would have excelled either way, he worked too hard not to. 

“Of course I’ll be going! And with Hadrien, right brother?”

The green-eyed man tuned in to the conversation, and seeing Valentin’s expectant eyes he delicately tilted his head and hummed questioningly.

“To the Creatures Protection Act presentation in a week!”

“Oh! Yes indeed we’ll be meeting at the Ministry, I hope it’s not going to be too crowded.”

Grégoire laughed bitterly at that and, shaking his head, answered:

“The bigots will probably be scared that some creatures will come and they’ll stay home…”

Hadrien decided not to respond, the Act was a sore spot for Grégoire ; one of his aunts was bitten by a werewolf during his 4th year and, in front of the judgement and lack of accompaniment from the government, ingested a lethal dose of aconite. This created a tremor in the French aristocracy, amplified by the grief of the Laubère family and led to a few changes that snowballed into the Act. So, of course, his friend was in favour of the Act and, while not a fervent defender, still a defender of the Dark Creatures’ rights, but this progress was at best bittersweet.

The Laubère family had always been tight-knitted, but with this tragedy, while some of the members got even closer, some bigots were revealed and expulsed from the centre of it, in particular Annette, one of Grégoire’s cousins, who declared publicly ‘It’s a shame it killed itself, I would have liked to defeat this monster’ and other unsavoury things. His friend hated her with a passion, and Hadrien feared that she would come to the Act presentation if only to spew hate comments and prejudices. At the first mention of the word 'dog', among other things, he would be sure to accidentally let a spell fly.

The respect and love of every being was something that his mother had engrained in his brain, and while most of it had stuck, Hadrien was a firmer believer of respect being accorded to the worthy. Of course, the worthy depended on the wizard’s opinion, but the young man had a large enough appreciation for the needed qualities of wizards and creatures alike that he respected a great deal more beings than the would-be-pacifists. Or at least he liked to think he did.

Therefore, the Act was a historical moment not only for creatures but also for politicians because, with the attribution of voting rights to some among other things, it meant a lot more people to seduce, and a way to tilt the balance.

Hadrien, like Valentin, wanted to be there to see if many of the new voters were present and so if they were likely to be active in the political aspect, but also to gauge the wording of the act. Honestly, it was most probably a very tentative integration, when many members of the Senate had only accepted to vote for the laws when pressured by the Laubère family and their allies. It wasn’t really constitutional, but it was for the greater good.

The goodbyes with his friends were short but full of affection, and after a promise to write to the secret couple to inform them of the presentation, both being busy with their appliances to formations and understandably not very keen to sit and listen to a sum up of laws for hours, Hadrien joined his mother and they soon arrived in the Lacroix house, the young man once again dusting his knees he had fallen onto.

Kippy informed them happily that she had prepared their meal, and while they ate, she lingered next to Hadrien, listening avidly to his stories and the explanation of his argument with Grégoire. The House Elf was more invested in her masters’ lives than any other Elf he knew, but that was the way they liked it. It was for this reason that he addressed her explicitly after a few seconds of silence:

“Kippy, do you know that an Act about Creatures is going to be presented at the Ministry next week?”

The House Elf nodded slowly, and a gathering of tears soon appeared in her eyes.

“Mistress and Master want me to stop working for them?”

Lily made an aborted motion to calm Kippy but stopped herself when she noticed Hadrien grasping her lightly by the shoulder and answering, after a nod from his mother:

“Of course not Kippy, but just know that if you wish to stop working for us, you just have to ask, and we will be paying you if you want to”

“Kippy is happy to serve kind Mistress and Master, if… maybe if… if Kippy can ask?”

“Of course, ask whatever you want”, Lily said encouragingly.

“Can Kippy have another dress?”

The House Elf’s lips wobbled and her big protruding eyes shined intensely after the question, and Hadrien almost wanted to laugh in front of the ridiculously small request, before remembering that several lifetimes of slavery were the reason for it. He only nodded and, when Kippy turned to Lily to have the approval of the Mistress of the house, she only met a warm acquiescence.

Hadrien went to bed thoughtful and was only mildly surprised when a knock sounded at the door before it revealed Lily.

“I thought we could talk a little bit about Lord Malfoy and Lord Gaunt if you feel inclined to it?”

He sat up straight and patted the place next to him, letting her sit comfortably.

They let silence consume the space between them for a few minutes, staring absently at the wall and finally at each other.

“So…?”, Hadrien asked childishly.

Lily laughed lightly and put a strand of his hair behind his ear before answering:

“You’ve grown up so much, haven’t you?”

She seemed satisfied at that and stared at his face some more, her eyes flying from his eyes to his nose to his lips to his forehead and going the same path again and again, all the while with a sweet smile adorning her features.

“You are intensely worried, why?” 

She sighed at that, her smile disappearing.

“You have entered the political world a long time ago, and you have been playing the rules extremely well, but I fear you have bitten more than you can chew…”

At that, Hadrien startled and was ready with a few words of choice, but his mother’s preoccupated gaze stopped him in his tracks.

“It’s just that France has been quite protected from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, they barely talk about him anymore, even sometimes it is to mock him being defeated by a babe, and only us can know what he truly was capable of, how many lives he has ruined and how much terror he has instilled in the British hearts. The French aristocracy is quite blissfully ignorant, they have forgotten quickly the lessons from two decades ago, and when the past is forgotten, it is deemed to be repeated. Lucius Malfoy is quickly gaining power and influence both in Britain and in France, and all of them seem to believe his platitudes about the Imperius, his woe-is-me attitude, well as woe-is-me as he can be while remaining elegant -they laughed at that- but his gain of power is the symptom of something more going on behind the scenes.”

“You think blood-supremacists are on the rise again and are going to try to gain power over the British and French ministry?”, Hadrien asked, almost unbelieving.

“It is what I fear, why else this sudden gain of notoriety and influence of the Malfoy name? We hear almost nothing from this Lord, if only of his participation to Hogwarts’ schoolboard and his systematic opposition to Lord Dumbledore, and suddenly, about three years ago, he starts to try and befriend every influential family? Be it dark or light? And now he’s focusing on the French families? Both light and dark again? There’s a pattern, there’s something we’re not seeing, why did he change his attitude?”

They pondered over it for a few minutes before Hadrien’s head snapped up almost violently and he exclaimed:

“Longbottom! Longbottom disappeared, or most importantly, their Symbol disappeared, it must have fragilized the British families and given an overture for Lord Malfoy to take over and gain support in the ensuing chaos.”

Lily snapped enthusiastically her fingers at him, giving her approval and complimented him on his intelligence for a little while before returning to her grave look.

“We’re arriving to the second part of our discussion and you’re not going to like it”, she warned him, making him shrug. He knew where this was headed.

“So, Lord Malfoy, one thing to know about him is that, while a very intelligent and cunning man, that you should NEVER underestimate, is also a follower.”

Again, Hadrien wanted to interrupt and exclaim his disapprobation but she silenced him with a serious stare and continued:

“The Malfoy family is a family of You-Know-Who followers, his father, Abraxas Malfoy, was said to be one of the first devoted. So, it’s not an overreach to think that Lucius has been raised to follow his father’s footsteps, at the service of their Lord. I honestly can’t see him leading a movement for himself, gathering and charming and influencing is instilled in him but topping isn’t, which is where your Lord Gaunt comes into view.”

In a childish manner, Hadrien almost wanted to put his hands over his ears and ignore what his mother was going to say, but she was his only accessible source about the state of British politics during the rise of the Dark Lord and if someone could see the similitudes it would be her, and maybe Lord Dumbledore, but he wasn’t willing to hear about a resurrection and other nonsense to pluck some useful information.

“Lord Gaunt appears, conveniently after the death of Longbottom, which, like you have impressively remarked, disorients the British ministry and families, and becomes one of the most influent person in the political society in seemingly no time. Now, what does the lambda member of the aristocracy know about him?”

Hadrien listed everything he knew before meeting the Lord:

“He is thirty-something, British, heir of the Gaunt family and therefore Heir of Slytherin, he practices all of the traditional rituals… and… that’s all”

Lily nodded, seemingly satisfied:

“Now, I know that you don’t agree with that, but in Britain, the rituals are often perpetuated by ‘Dark’ families, above all he’s the Slytherin Heir, and while we shouldn’t take that at face value, Slytherin is known for his discrimination based on blood. These are all factors that don’t really play in his favour. So, best case scenario, he’s just a British Lord trying to gain influence via Lord Malfoy to reinstitute some traditions, or even only to become Prime Minister and have power, or, worst case scenario, we have a new pureblood-supremacist who’s trying to take over Britain, but this time more intelligently and discreetly.”

The green-eyed man took the time to ponder over what his mother said, carefully avoiding mentioning his Dark aura, and finally responded:

“I don’t know yet his opinion on blood purity, and I intend to gain this knowledge at the Malfoy soirée, where I will still be going, Mum.”

Upon her frustrated face, he continued:

“I know that you don’t like it, but I am already too invested in this relationship, disappearing from the surface of the earth would be too suspicious, and to be honest, I have my best shot at a political career almost presented on a silver platter! It doesn’t mean that I won’t be careful, I have been since the start, but Lord Malfoy and Lord Gaunt are the game changers in the British ministry, and you know that I want to have an internship there this summer. Their support would mean an incredible launch to my political career, and if I have to conveniently forget to mention my ideas on blood purity to better change theirs when I have a real voice in the French aristocracy, then I will gladly do it.”

He took a deep breath before getting into another tirade:

“But what I think you have failed to mention is that Lord Malfoy has accepted too easily the lordship of Lord Gaunt. Either Lord Gaunt has been preparing his apparition in the British scene a long time before launching it or he had some leverage against Lord Malfoy, something that made the other man not question his superiority. I honestly don’t think that, just because a new Lord claiming to be the Heir of Slytherin appeared, Lord Malfoy bowed down and decided to serve him. There’s another thing we’re missing, what does he truly gain from it?”

They spent some long minutes thinking about it before Lily tentatively admitted that she didn’t know, and that’s when the clock from the salon chimed, indicating it was midnight. Deciding it was too late to continue this conversation, she wished him goodnight and kissed him on the forehead before leaving his bedroom.

It was a few hours later that sleep finally claimed Hadrien.


End file.
